Taking the Plunge: Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

I'M GOING TO JUMP OFF THE DIVING BOARD TODAY," JABARI TOLD HIS DAD.

"REALLY?" SAID HIS DAD.

The weather is warm, and the pool is open. Jabari's passed his swimming test and he's got a new swimsuit and matching swim goggles.

He's ready to move on up to a new level. He's not scared.

But it's easy to say you're going jump off the high board when you're not there, looking up, up, up at that board. Way up there at the end of the diving board, even the big kids look very small. Jabari watches as they bounce a few times and dive off the board, hitting the water with a huge SPLASH!

It looks easy. But waiting in line at the bottom of the ladder, Jabari is uneasy. He gives the kid behind him a pass, telling him he needs to think about what dive to do. Then he begins the climb. The ladder is a lot taller than it looks.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" CALLED HIS DAD.

"I'M JUST A LITTLE TIRED," SAID JABARI.

Jabari is happy to take his dad's suggestion that he take a little rest. He comes up with another reason to come down--he forgot to stretch! Dad agrees that that's a good idea and suggests that tomorrow will be a good day to jump, too. But then he gives Jabari some advice.

"SOMETIMES WHEN I FEEL SCARED, I TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND TELL MYSELF I AM READY.

SOMETIMES IT STOPS FEELING SCARY AND STARTS TO FEEL LIKE A SURPRISE."

Jabari tries Dad's technique. He likes surprises, he thinks, and suddenly he feels ready to take the plunge. He begins to climb toward the top again.

JABARI STOOD UP STRAIGHT AND WALKED ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THE BOARD.

And then, Jabari Jumpsin Gaia Cornwall's 2017 Candlewick Press story of a boy taking that leap of faith into his own future. There are many leaps forward in childhood, and author Cornwall's top-selling picture book sets the scene for one of those emblematic moments that almost all of us have at various times in life. "Nothing attempted, nothing done," says the old saying, and young readers will get it that Jabari's jump is something more than just a dunk in the neighborhood pool, but one that he will have the courage to make again and again in life.

Cornwall's soft and affectionate illustrations are perfect: her colors match the sun-sparkled aqua of a freshly painted pool on a June morning, and her use of various perspectives parallel the text as Jabari looks up, up, up the long ladder and down, down, down, past his toes curling around the end of the diving board to the water far below, where his dad and toddler sister, her little hands clinging tightly to dad's shoulder, watch his big moment. This is a little story that is in itself a parable of moving on up in life. Says Publishers Weekly, "It's a lovely, knowing account of a big 'first" in a child's life." And Kirkus Reviews quips, "This simple and sincere tale of working up courage to face fears makes quite a splash!"

Making a Splash! Cannonball by Sacha Cotter

I'm always dreaming of pulling off that perfect cannonball. A booming one! A slapping one. A splashing, dripping, soaring one! Do an amazing cannonball around here and you will be something, all right. SomeONE!

The competition is considerable! The Kneelock! The Coffin Drop! The Manu! They're all a hard act to follow. His Nana tries to build up his confidence, but then one attempt from the sky-high platform leaves him clinging to the board, providing a good laugh for all the big guys below.

Sometimes I think I'm just not cut out for cannonballs!

Everybody thinks they know the secret. Weigh more. Get taller. Get bigger swim trunks! OR JUST...

"JUMP ALREADY!"

But Nana has the best advice.

"Do it your way!"

So with the breeze in his hair, he dances through the air, and.... ... with a colossal, spectacular, super SPLASH, he lands a memorable cannonball that soaks everyone thoroughly. YAY! It's mission accomplished in Sacha Cotter's how-to story, Cannonball (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky, 2020). Sacha Cotter's story of making the scene with a big splash is set in New Zealand, giving a bit of South Pacific color and feel to a story of achieving the milestone of that big jump that is a universal childhood experience. Populated with plenty of voluble advisors and nay-saying critics, Cotter's upbeat narration is punctuated with jolly rhymes and enlightened by a supportive grandmother to add to this joyful rite of passage. Pair this one with Gaia Cornwall's delightful Jabari Jumps (read review here), another story of making that leap of faith into the rest of your life.