5 Favorite Books about Swimming for Preschoolers

If you’re like most moms & dads, Summer is the time of year when you start planning beach vacations, sign your kids up for summer camps or enroll your kids in swim lessons. Depending on how comfortable your children are around the water, these efforts can be met with “Yay!” or “No Way!” Learning to swim is a childhood rite of passage, but try telling that to the kid who absolutely refuses to put his face in the water, even with popsicles at the concession stand as a bribe. If you don’t have children that take to the water like fish, this can make your summer surprisingly easy or more difficult than you could’ve ever imagined.

Here at Sunsational Swim School, we have found that reading board books, picture books or even chapter books to kids about positive water experiences can be just the trick to quell some of those fears for hesitant little ones. Reading books about swimming and swimming lessons helps warm your kids up to not only the idea of swimming, but they’re entertaining and inspiring for the whole family too. We’ve rounded up five of our favorite books kids books about swimming below!

Best Swimming Books for Toddlers

Maisy Learns to Swim, by Lucy Cousins

Part of the Maisy First Experiences Book collection, in this picture book sweet little Maisy the mouse shows kids that swimming isn’t something they’ll learn overnight. She teaches them that they won’t learn in just one lesson and that it’s totally normal to be a little nervous about the whole thing. Maisy eases into the cold pool slowly with her friend Tallulah the duck, while their pal Eddie the elephant jumps right in. The simple language and bright childlike drawings take little swimmers through the whole swim lesson experience - from the locker room through the lesson. Maisy & friends practice kicking, blowing bubbles and listening to the teacher—all the way to ending the lesson, feeling chilly getting out of the pool, showering and enjoying a snack. Maisy Learns to Swim is a great beginner book for kiddos who need a little healthy peer pressure in the swimming lesson department!

Saturday is Swimming Day, by Hyewon Yum

This tale of one endearing young swimmer shows that new things can be scary - but with bravery and a lot of patience, you can face your fears. Swimming lessons are every Saturday, and every Saturday one sweet little girl has a tummy ache. When she gets to the pool she is scared. The floor is slippery and wet, it’s loud and her swim cap is too tight! Her swim instructor, Mary, tells her if she doesn’t want to get into the water this week that it's OK. Next Saturday she has a belly ache just the same, but with teacher Mary’s gentle encouragement she eventually makes it into the water to practice her kicks. Little by little her confidence grows and finally on Saturday she has no stomach ache at all! In this very relatable story about trying something new, Saturday is for Swimming shows that it’s perfectly fine to take your time if you’re afraid.

Leo Can Swim, by Anna McQuinn

Leo, Lola’s little brother from the beloved series starting with Lola Loves the Library, is back for an adventure by the pool. Leo and his dad join other babies and their caretakers in the pool for a swim class. Together they bounce, kick, splash around and dive like dolphins. Leo Can Swim is full of fun sound effects and action and has a cast of diverse families who love to play together. This book is great as a gentle introduction to pool facilities and parent-child swim lessons.

Childrens Books about Learning to Swim:

Swim Little Wombat, Swim, by Charles Fuge

This adorable children's book is a lesson about making judgements. The marsupial comes across an unfamiliar creature - the Platypus - and makes fun of it’s walk and fuzzy face! Trying to show off where the Platypus is swimming in the pond, Wombat sinks! The two become friends and the patient Platypus helps teach Wombat how to swim. As their connection grows, Wombat begins to feel embarrassed for his previous bad behavior. After he learns to swim they celebrate with a race as their friends cheer them on. Not only does this cute story offer a great lesson about friendship, but it depicts the humor of the struggle learning to swim.

No Swimming for Nelly, by Valeri Gorbachev

No Swimming for Nelly is a great family read - sweetly comical with emotive illustrations of three generations of lady pigs. Nelly loves the new swimsuit her mom gives her. So much so, that she wears it playing basketball, biking, even sleeping - but not swimming! Why not?! Well, the water is scary, the beach is cold and Nelly doesn’t like the waves. Nelly’s mom knows just who to call, the number one swimmer in the family, Grandma. Grandma is a patient swim teacher and her instructions are ones that every parent can use with their kiddos. Grandma teaches her how to blow bubbles, kick, move her arms and learn how to float. Over time Nelly learns to become an excellent swimmer and never wants to come in for dinner! No Swimming for Nelly teaches novice swimmers that they can try new things with the support of their loved ones.

Here at Sunsational Swim School, we encourage reading lots of books about learning to swim! For young ones, seeing characters in books who have the same struggles around the pool may be very helpful and the last little push it takes to face their fears.

If you have a child who is scared to get in the water, read one of these books and then contact Sunsational Swim School for private at-home swimming lessons!

Genevieve Woosley’s bio:

Swim instructor in San Diego, CA

Genevieve is a swim instructor who lives in the sunny city of San Diego, California! She joined the team at Sunsational Swim School in 2019 and hails from the Carolinas. She has lived in both North and South Carolina for most of her life. Genevieve was a swim coach and lifeguard starting from age 16 all the way through college, and loved it so much that she went home each college summer to teach full time at her local swim & racquet club. After she graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2011 she moved to Orlando, Florida where she was a Family Entertainment Coordinator and Lifeguard at Walt Disney World. Genevieve performed as a character entertainer, Princess Jasmine, for a few seasons between 2012-2014!

Genevieve loves children and families and continues to be of service to families all over San Diego county. Not only is she a swim instructor, she is a yoga instructor for kids and adults of all ages, and a content creator for Sunsational Swim School. If you live in the San Diego area please get in touch with Genevieve as she’d love to meet you!