Swimming Lessons- Betsy Jay

The cover shows a girl standing outside of the water. Most children get excited for summer because they can go to the pool and swim. Right away one can tell from the cover page that this main character does not want to swim because of the illustration. The first page of the book is colored blue and has many objects painted throughout. This sets the scene for the reader to know that this book is about swimming and pools. The illustrations are playful and filled with color, which I would recommend for grades second thru forth. On the dedication page the main character is shown holding her hand with an adult, making the reader turn the page to find out what is going to happen. The typography in the book is very different from other picture books because it is wave-like for certain words. I found this creative because it looks as it the words are being looked at in water because they have a wave characteristic. The book tells a story, but I also found the illustrations to tell another story in itself. Just from looking at the pictures the reader can tell what the little girl is thinking about. I found this to be a good idea for a class project. As a teacher, I would have my students think about a story but just draw it out instead of writing. I feel that students would really like that and could understand the importance of illustrations because they play a large role in this picture book.