I Do Not Like Water

by Eva Lindström, Annie Prime (Translator)

Overview

Alf is scared of water—but he’s not about to let that keep him from enjoying summer with his water-loving friends. In this slyly humorous story, Alf creatively confronts his fears and comes up with a surprising solution.

It’s the summer and everyone is out swimming under the sun . . . well, almost everyone. While all his friends love canoeing down rivers and splashing in the community pool, Alf would rather remain on dry land. This makes hanging with his friends difficult! What can Alf do to enjoy his summer as much as his splish-splashing friends, without getting so much as a single toe wet?

From one of Sweden’s most beloved children’s authors, I Do Not Like Water is an award-winning celebration of whimsical individuality and overcoming your fears.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662620553
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	05/21/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.63(w) x 11.25(h) x 0.34(d)
Lexile:	AD530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Eva Lindström is one of Sweden’s most celebrated picture book authors and illustrators and a former member of the Swedish Academy for Children’s Books. Her honors include the prestigious international 2022 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, three Hans Christian Andersen Award nominations, and more than ten nominations for Sweden’s top literary prize, Augustpriset—more than any other author in Sweden. Her books have been adapted for the screen and translated into numerous languages, including French, German, Chinese, and English.

Editorial Reviews

02/19/2024

Every child loves water, right? Not Alf, the pale-skinned child narrator of this picture book: “Down with rain, lakes, rivers, seas, puddles, pools, oceans, streams, marshes, ponds, brooks, and creeks!” In freely stroked gouache and watercolor spreads, Alf encounters water pictured in dynamic sheets of color that make its messy wetness easy to feel. Alf stumbles into a pool and their whole leg gets wet. At a school outing on the river, their canoe capsizes, an event that soaks Alf and their sandwiches. Tadpole-gathering is also out, though Alf’s peers enjoy watching the tadpoles grow into frogs, which soon swim off into the river. First-person narration recalls the previous winter, when the water and the hills froze, and Alf experienced great pleasure: “We sledded over and/ over and over and over.” At last, Alf finds a conceit that makes it possible to be happy near the water without being in it; it’s a triumph, and they wear a quiet smile. Vividly relaying intense early experiences of pain and of pleasure, Lindström (The Bridge) portrays a child who is comfortable with their own feelings and resourceful enough to hold space for them. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ "This is a refreshingly unsentimental and matter-of-fact take on being different, devoid of heavy-handed moralizing or intervention from adult characters. The children's interpersonal dynamics and body language are left for young readers to absorb and ponder, and they'll linger over both text and art—and be heartened by Alf's trajectory. A delightful celebration of acceptance in all its forms." —Kirkus Reviews

"In this Swedish import by Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award–winning author-illustrator Lindström, Alf is a child who knows his own mind...Lindström’s quirky gouache-and-watercolor illustrations are full of subtle details that suggest the child is much more fascinated and absorbed by water than he proclaims. Alf cleverly finds a way to enjoy swimming with his friends and creatively keeps his head above water. A buoyant picture book about facing fears and staying true to oneself." —Booklist

"Vividly relaying intense early experiences of pain and of pleasure, Lindström (The Bridge) portrays a child who is comfortable with their own feelings and resourceful enough to hold space for them."—Publishers Weekly



"In this Swedish import by Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award–winning author-illustrator Lindström, Alf is a child who knows his own mind. Lindström’s quirky gouache-and-watercolor illustrations are full of subtle details... (a) buoyant picture book about facing fears and staying true to oneself."—Booklist

From the Publisher