Swim lesson books for kids cover

Books to Introduce Young Kids to Swimming!

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Summer is here! And with the heat comes cooling down in pools, oceans, springs, and lakes. Swimming is a great way to stay cool and get the kids out of the AC and into the sun. But with younger kids who are just learning to swim, sometimes getting in the water can be a challenge. These 8 books about learning to swim will motivate your little swimmer to get in the water, be safe, and have fun!

The 8 Best Books About Learning to Swim

We live in Florida and are often in some sort of water, so we started swim lessons for our three-year-old at the beginning of summer. It was a one-week class, one on one, for a half-hour, and the first couple of days were rough. Parents are not allowed on the pool deck, but even from the car, we could hear our girl crying. But at the end of the week, she was going underwater and able to reach the side of the pool! And although she wasn’t swimming, we felt much more confident with her in the water.

Reading about an activity is a great way to introduce a child to that activity. Here are some of the best books our family read while preparing our daughter for swim lessons.

froggy learns to swim
maisy learns to swim
ruby learns to swim

There is a theme here with the next three books, all stories about relatable characters learning to swim. In Froggy Learns to Swim, frogs are supposed to be great swimmers, but Froggy is scared of the water! Beloved toddler favorite Maisy shares a positive experience of going to the pool with her friends in Maisy Learns to Swim. Ruby Learns to Swim is a fun read-aloud about a little girl’s day at the pool.

peppa goes swimming

You really can’t go wrong with young kids and Peppa Pig. In Peppa Pig Goes Swimming, Peppa and her family head to the pool and gently help her little brother conquer his first time in the water.

pool, children's book by jihyeon lee

Pool, by JiHyeon Lee, is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and an NPR Book of the Year. We love wordless picture books in my house, and this one shows a young boy discovering the world of water and a new friend at the pool.

there's a sea in my bedroom

Australian favorite Margaret Wild wrote There’s a Sea in my Bedroom in the late 80s and it still remains relevant to this day. A young boy is scared of the ocean but loves seashells. Magical things happen when he takes a conch shell back to his bedroom.

the deep, children's book by tim winton

In The Deep, by Tim Winton, Alice lives by the ocean but is afraid of the deep water. She sticks to the shallows. This book is a fun and gentle story about her overcoming her fears.

tuck in the pool children's book

Tuck in the Pool is about small pig Tuck overcoming his fear of putting his head underwater when he has to rescue his toy that fell to the bottom. This book actually features swim lessons too, which is great for the littles.

Hope these books inspired you to get swimming!

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