When You Can Swim
Winner, 2023 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (Picture Books)
Winner, 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award (Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books)
Finalist, 2024 Ezra Jack Keats Award (Writing)
USA Today National Bestseller
A reverent celebration of learning to swim among a diverse cast of children and families who each experience the mysterious joys of water in nature.
In this exploration of what it truly means to swim, expansive vignettes introduce sandpipers, tannin-soaked lakes, and the feeling of a small waterfall on sun-soaked shoulders. But what about those who are afraid of the water’s mysterious ways and resist learning to swim? Painting a compelling picture of the many joys and surprises that the water holds, artist and author Jack Wong has delivered an empowering, poetic journey that invites children to discover their confidence within to receive the warmth and wonder of the natural world.
Download the drawing activity!
Released May 2, 2023 from Orchard Books (Scholastic)
Praise for When You Can Swim:
★ “Each frame immediately immerses readers in the sights, sounds, and sensations of summer…. The title is bound to inspire all swimmers to embrace nature, no matter where they are on their journey.” —Starred review from Kirkus Reviews
★ “Text and illustrations merge seamlessly to illuminate the ways in which swimming animates all the senses, and Wong writes with beguiling lyricism and figurative language.” —Starred review from BookPage
★ “Wong invites readers to learn how to swim — to conquer fear of the water, and also to reclaim aquatic spaces for Brown, Black, and differently abled bodies…. This isn’t just a book about swimming but also ‘about our ideas of the world’; it’s a manifesto that ‘this belongs to you, too.’” —Starred review from The Horn Book Magazine
“When You Can Swim transforms fear into a rushing wave of eager anticipation…. It especially reaches out to those who have historically been excluded from learning to swim.” —Governor General’s Literary Awards peer assessment committee: Mahak Jain, Lee Edward Födi and Marianne Ferrer
More accolades for When You Can Swim:
★ Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, BookPage, Horn Book, and School Library Journal (for audiobook edition)
Best Books of 2023 commendation from:
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
BookPage
Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC)
CBC Books
Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA)
The Globe and Mail
Horn Book
Kirkus
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
New York Public Library
Publishers Weekly
Seattle Public Library
Smithsonian Magazine
Book of the Month, FOLD Kids (Festival of Literary Diversity)
Editors’ Best Book Pick, Amazon
Book club pick at Parnassus Books (Nashville, TN), Lemuria Books (Jackson, MS) and Neighborhood Reads (Washington, MO)
