Quick Booktalk
While his siblings are natural swimmers, Jim, a young crocodile, is afraid to jump in, so he leaves the swamp to find a less intimidating place to learn to swim.
About the Illustrations
The illustrations have a lot of variety. Some pages are large group scenes against a nature backdrop. Others are images of just Jim, or just his face. A few pages use panels to show the passage of time during a scene. Much is conveyed through the bodies and expressions of the characters. The illustrator does a wonderful job of conveying the appealing coolness of water on a hot summer day.
Story Time Possibilities
This book uses a lot of dialogue and onomatopoeia, both of which make it appealing to read aloud. Fear of the water is a common childhood phobia among new swimmers, and this book puts a bit of a new spin on that concept that will appeal to groups of preschoolers and early elementary schoolers. It works for a number of themes: overcoming fears, summer, swimming, water, swamps, and crocodiles.
Reader's Advisory
This book feels like a cross between Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall and Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London. It would also make a really fun read-alike for the Lyle Crocodile books. As a bonus, the last page of the book is a list of crocodile facts. Unfortunately, one of them is about farts, which strikes me as unnecessary, but I have a zero tolerance policy on bathroom humor that I know most people don't share.
Disclosure
I received a review copy of Swim, Jim! from Paula Wiseman Books in exchange for an honest review.
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