Hop at Swimming Class - Esther Van Den Berg - ★★★★★

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AUTHOR: Esther Van Den Berg
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: January 9, 2022
RATING: 5 stars.

As cute as the cover suggests!!! 😍😍

Now that all the tadpoles in the pond have turned into little frogs, their mom decides that it is time for the kids to join…you guessed it… a swimming class! Soon the little froggies, under the watchful eye of Lifeguard Toad, learn floating, breaststroke, and even diving. Some get a grasp of it quickly, while our titular hero Hop gets stuck a couple of times. But all’s well that ends well! And this book certainly ends well, with a giant splash of excitement!

I simply adored everything about this picture book. Right from the textual content, the vocabulary level, the illustrations, the story progression – everything was 10/10. There are some onomatopoeic words such as ‘splashing’ which give a great scope for fun during readalouds.

The story by itself is charming. But what takes it to a whole new level of scrumptiousness is the illustrations – they are oh-so-cuuuttteeee! 😍😍 The little green froggies with their bright orange floaties, Lifeguard Toad with his orange whistle dangling around his neck, the background of the pond, the various other pond creatures… I could go on and on. The vibrant watercolours match the feel and flow of the content perfectly. Furthermore, there are some things that aren’t detailed out in the text but happen in the illustrations. So don’t forget to check out the drawings on each page thoroughly before turning it over.

Heartily recommended for every little swimmer and wanna-be swimmer, and maybe even to those scared of stepping into the pool. You won’t find a more charming picture book than this one! I picked it up only because of the cover, and I am so glad I did!

The book will work perfectly for 2-8 year olds.

My thanks to Clavis Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “Hop at Swimming Class”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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