CM Magazine:Swimming, Swimming.

________________ CM . . . . Volume XXI Number 29 . . . . April 3, 2015

cover
Swimming, Swimming.

Gary Clement.
Toronto, ON: Groundwood/House of Anansi Press, 2015.
48 pp., hardcover & pdf, $18.95 (hc.), $16.95 (pdf).
ISBN 978-1-55498-449-7 (hc.), ISBN 978-1-55498-450-3 (pdf).

Subject Headings:
Swimming, swimming in a swimming pool (Song)-Pictorial works-Juvenile literature.
Children’s songs, English-Texts.

Preschool-grade 2 / Ages 4-7.

Review by Valerie Nielsen.

**** /4

Gary Clement is an award-winning Canadian artist and illustrator who is probably best known for his political cartoons which have been appearing daily in the National Post since the newspaper's inception in 1998. Swimming, Swimming is an almost-wordless picture book celebrating that wonderful activity we all enjoy (even those of us stuck in the city) in the summertime. Swimming, Swimming has the feel, in fact, of a requiem to our community swimming pools, more than one of which is under attack as our cities run short of money for infrastructure repairs.

SWIMMING, SWIMMING
IN A SWIMMING POOL.
WHEN DAYS ARE HOT
WHEN DAYS ARE COLD
IN A SWIMMING POOL.
BREASTSTROKE, SIDESTROKE,
FANCY DIVING TOO!
OH DON'T YOU WISH YOU NEVER HAD
ANYTHING ELSE TO DO?

Clement's 34 word text is actually a variation of an old song and fits perfectly to the tune of "Sailing sailing, over the ocean blue.... " Inside the dust cover, a website is listed which apparently gives readers "...the instructions for acting out this classic song." (Although what instructions any adult reader would need to engage a young listener in this most loved activity is hard to imagine.) In fact, the instructions were not available on a recent check of the website.

Gary Clement's bright and bold illustrations are exactly right for the spirit of this book. The joy of swimming, of friendship, and of summer (and of the community pool!) are wonderfully represented in the artist's 26 double-spread pictures depicting the young swimmer's day, from the moment he wakes to the time he goes to sleep after his day in the pool. Clement's text, with its rhyme and rhythm, begs to be sung, thereby making Swimming, Swimming an absolutely perfect book for beginning readers who are guaranteed to be able to "read" the book from cover to cover the second (or third and fourth) time round! Even the endpapers on this artist's beautiful picture book are worth mentioning as an aside. There, swimming enthusiasts of all ages will find illustrations of the five major swimming strokes.

Highly Recommended.

A retired teacher-librarian, Valerie Nielsen lives in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364 Hosted by the University of Manitoba.