Sand and Surf Time! Otter: Let's Go Swimming! by Sam Garton

"I am so excited!

I will learn to swim in the sea!

Otter Keeper has the beach bag piled full of gear--masks, flippers, snorkels, shovel and pail, and beach umbrella--and Otter has... Teddy and Giraffe.

Otter has never seen the sea!

She spots the dolphins playing off shore, and she's keen to join them. That is, until she gets a little closer to the breaking waves.

"ooooOOOOO!"

Otter Keeper jumps right in with a big splash and demonstrates his strokes. Now it's Otter's turn.

Or not. Otter backs out.

"I can't go swimming now!" says Otter.

"Giraffe is scared of fish!"

Otter gets Giraffe busy building a sand castle.

Otter Keeper declares that fish are no danger to Giraffe. But then Otter insists that Teddy hates getting wet, so both of them must stay on the shore and play with the beach ball.

Otto Keeper reassures Otter that getting wet is part of the fun. Otter hides her head inside her new sand pail and finally tells the truth.

"I am scared of the sea!"Otter admits.

But Otter soon sees that no one else is staying high and dry.

"Everyone is having fun without me!"

Alone is no fun, and Otter lets Otter Keeper hold her hand for her first splash into the waves, and when it's time to go home, she's having too fun to stop. For youngsters just putting a toe in the water and into their first dip into read-alone books, Sam Garton's latest I-Can-Read story, Otter: Let's Go Swimming! (My First I Can Read) (Balzer And Bray/Harper, 2017) is just in time for a summer beach read. Otter is as adorable as ever as she takes to the water like an otter oughta, and Garton's text offers easy-going beach-related vocabulary with ample visual cues from his sunny and charming illustrations.

For little beach-o-phobes who fear getting in the swim, pair this one with David Soman's Ladybug Girl at the Beach (see review here).

Splat Swims! Splish, Splash, Splat! by Rob Scotton

GULP! THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY AT ALL," SPLAT SAID.

SEYMOUR SHOOK HIS HEAD.

What could be worse? Splat's mom tells him that he has a play-date with Spike, a classmate of whom the best he can say is that he's a big show-off, calls him names like "Splattie, eats all his fish candy, and breaks all his toys. But Mom has saved the worst news for last:

"OH, I ALMOST FORGOT. YOU BEGIN SWIM LESSONS AT SCHOOL TODAY."

Swim lessons! Splat even hates to take a bath. A whole pool of the wet stuff can't be good!

"WATER IS HORRIBLE!" SAYS SPLAT. IT'S SCARY AND WET AND MAKES ME SOGGY!"

"CAN THIS DAY GET ANY WORSE?"

Grimly Splat, bolstered by his friend Seymour the mouse, goes through his day. At last the dreaded moment arrives. Mrs. Wimpydimple ignores Splat's protests and briskly herds the class along to the school pool.

Plank, already attired in swim fins, shouts "Yippee," and hits the water with a big splash, while Splat cringes. Spike, snorkel and all, crowds to the front of the group, with a bossy "Me, first!" but then stops at the edge and sidles back beside Splat. As the others step gingerly into the pool, Spike hides behind Splat, and mutters

"WATER IS HORRIBLE!"

SPLAT IS CONFUSED.

HE THOUGHT THAT SPIKE WASN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING. BUT SPIKE WAS JUST AS SCARED AS HE WAS. SPLAT FELT SORRY FOR HIM.

But fears shared are fears that can be faced, and Splat and Spike find that together they can brave the waters and are soon racing each other across the pool in Rob Scotton's just published Splish, Splash, Splat! (Splat the Cat) (Harper, 2011) new Splat adventure. Scotton's comic illustrations are just as engaging as ever, and his spot-on portrayal of a first grader's fears and feelings are just as endearing as in his other best-selling Splat the Cat picture books.

And don't forget Scotton's companion series of easy readers, which include Splat the Cat: Good Night, Sleep Tight (I Can Read Book 1) and Splat the Cat: Splat the Cat Sings Flat (I Can Read Book 1) for the emergent reader.