The Water's Fine! Llama Llama Learns to Swim by Jana Dewdney

It's summertime and Llama Llama and friends--Gilroy Goat, Euclid Lamb, and Nelly Gnu, outfitted in brand-new swimsuits, are visiting Luna Giraffe's backyard pool. Luna suddenly gets an idea.

"LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!"

Immediately Nelly notices that Llama Llama is looking nervous at the prospect, and despite her assurance that it'll be a blast, Llama's not so sure.

That night he tell Mama Llama about his fears. He can't really swim without his floaties, and the ocean beach is really big and different from a backyard pool.

Mama Llama tells him it's okay to worry about not being able to swim. It is a big deal, but it's one they can handle. Mama arranges for a visit to a friend's pool where she can give little Llama some private lessons where his friends can't see him sink!.

MAMA LLAMA SHOWS LLAMA LLAMA SOME SWIMMING STROKES.
THEN MAMA HELPS LLAMA FLOAT. FINALLY THEY BOTH HOLD THEIR BREATH AND DIP UNDER WATER TOGETHER.

And when Llama can make some progress across the pool solo, his friends decide they could polish up their skills a bit before taking on the beach, too.

And then there's a special new student who asks to get in on the Mama Llama's swim lessons, too!

"GRANDPA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" ASKS LLAMA LLAMA.

"YOUR MAMA TOLD ME YOU WERE AFRAID OF GETTING IN THE WATER," SAYS GRANDPA LLAMA.

"WELL, SO AM I!"

And soon Llama Llama and Grandpa Llama are ready to hit the beach together, in Llama Llama Learns to Swim (Penguin/Random House, 2019). The new Netflix television star is no longer a newbie by the sea, and Mama Llama has two new swimmers for their day by the sea, in this new one in the spirit of Anna Dewdney's loved and lovable character. Kids who are not quite ready for the big pool or the ocean beach scene will see Llama Llama conquering his fears and learning step by step to handle himself in the water in a way that will help get youngsters in the swim.

A Good Splash Dashed! The Whale in the Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan

"RACE YOU TO THE POOL!"

It's a warm, sunny morning, and and the kid can't wait to his the water. He tugs on his baggy red swimsuit and heads downstairs for a dunk.

"WHOA!!

Don't you just hate it when THAT happens? On top of his inflatable wading pool is... what looks like a giant spouting inflatable whale with a Zen-like smile affixed to his enormous face.

"MOOOM! THERE'S A WHALE IN MY SWIMMING POOL!"

"GREAT, HONEY! DON'T FORGET ABOUT SUNSCREEN!"

Mom's not going to be much help here. The boy decides to take charge of the whale removal.

He closes his eyes and tries to wish away the sight.

No luck. He tries to shove the whale out of the way.

No way. He points out the neighbor's full-sized pool (complete with visible shark fin) next door as a more, um, fitting environment for a whale.

No response. The whale just sits there, like he's happily hatching a whale egg on a nest.

Maybe a game will get him off his perch.

"TAG! YOU'RE IT!"

Nope. The boy begins to despair of ever taking a dunk in his pool. And he's beginning to get all hot and bothered.

But wait! There is one way to get wet! He clambers atop the whale's head, puts his floatie over his spouting blowhole and catches the wave, so to speak! Ahhhh!

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again is the theme of Joyce Wan's little whaling saga, The Whale in My Swimming Pool (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015). This kid is going to need that perseverance, because author Wan arranges another obstacle for him when he goes inside for a nap and finds a huge bear snoring in his bed. If it's not one thing, it's another! It's all a fun fantasy, illustrated by the author with a wide blackline and flat color that heightens the silly seriousness of the boy's situation.

Ready to Ribbet? Stink and the Freaky Frog Freakout by Megan McDonald

THE SHARK SNEAKED THROUGH THE WATER LIKE A SILVER STREAK.  STINK FELT SOMETHING GRAB HIS LEG.     S-S-SHARK ATTACK!!

AARGH! STINK LEAPED OUT OF THE WATER, KER-SPLASH!

THE SNEAKY SHARK WAS HIS SISTER JUDY!

"I'M A SHARK AND YOU'RE STILL A POLLIWOG. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT YOUR HEAD UNDERWATER SOME TIME, STINK!  I'M ALMOST A BARRACUDA!"

Swimming lessons are not exactly going swimmingly for Stink, stuck with his head determinedly above water, inseparable from his swim noodle, while almost-Barracuda Judy shows off, diving to the bottom of the pool for quarters. Stink can't wait to get away from the water.

But when he finds a little tree frog with three legs in the locker-room shower, Stink gets interested in frogs. Frogs show up in his bathtub, his boots, the garden hose, and even in their garage. Is it raining frogs?

To find out why the town is full of frogs, Stink's dad takes him and his friends to the local nature center for a lesson on amphibians, where a graduate student named Jasper invites them along for the annual Frog Neck Lake Frog Count--if he can pass a test on identifying frog calls. Judy even pitches in to help, Stink leaps to the head of the frog call class, and with his Frog Log clipboard and Sophie and Webster along as assistants, Stink counts croaks and  learns a lot about why, because of environmental problems, there are fewer frogs croaking in the lake but more of them sproinging in the suburbs than ever before.

Then the next morning, Stink wakes up in the middle of an exciting Spiderman dream  to find a  frog licking the freckle on his arm. Could this frog be like Peter Parker's spider?  Could it be giving Stink special frog powers?

THE FROG WAS BLUE.

THIS FROG WAS NOT NORMAL.  THIS FROG WAS A MUTANT!

AND ... THE FROG HAD LICKED STINK.  JUST LIKE THE SPIDER THAT BIT PETER PARKER!

FREAKY FROG FREAKOUT!  STINK HAD A PETER PARKER OF A SECRET!

At breakfast the raisins in Stink's cereal start to look just like dead flies.  He eats them first. Then he eats all of Judy's  dead flies, er, raisins, too.  He discovers that his tongue is long enough to touch his nose.  He has an overwhelming desire to play outside in the rain, leaping through puddles and playing in the mud.  Worms are even looking good to him. Can he be feeling his freaky frog powers?

Now Stink can't wait for the next swim lesson.  Frogs love to swim underwater, and they never need a noodle, either. Stink just knows he's going to leapfrog forward into barracuda level even before Judy!

Megan McDonald's latest, Stink and the Freaky Frog Freakout (Book #8) (Candlewick Press, 2013), has Stink & Company hopping happily into a watery world of amphibians as bossy Judy Moody's little brother Stink finds himself diving into the deeps all by himself in this eighth book in the spinoff Stink series. A little sibling rivalry (and cooperation), a bit of overcoming fears, a lot of incidental learning about amphibian environments, and Peter Reynolds' inspired black-and-white comic illustrations make this newest Stink story a winner for reluctant and beginning chapter readers and a natural for summer nature study adventures. McDonald even tucks in fun frog Creature Feature quizzes along the way so that readers take away some awesome amphibian information as well as a dozen ways to say "Ribbet!"