This is a cute book about facing your fears. Good book to read to younger kids but the illustrations are very minimalistic so there isn't much for them to look at. ( )

Meet Sergio, a curious-but-cautious Argentine penguin with a passion for soccer, fishies, and water. Most water anyway: He does not know how to swim and is reluctant to follow his mates into the ocean deep. Adorably donning various floaties, Sergio psyches himself into taking the plunge, only to discover that ocean swimming is FUN.

Sergio's story unfolds with gentle economy: the spare text is integrated in the illustrations, woodcuts in a gorgeous four-color palette. The overall effect is irresistible.

Plenty of opportunities for audience interaction: name the things Sergio loves most, the kinds of water he enjoys... shout encouragement for him to dive in... "Did you have fun?" his teacher asks. (Did Sergio have fun?) "YES!"

Sergio Makes A Splash by Edel Rodriguez is a book about a penguin named Sergio who goes on a field trip to go swimming, but does not know how to swim and is therefore scared to get in the water. After some encouragement from his friends and teacher, Sergio gets in the water with his floaties and ends up loving it. This book would be good for readers in first grade and up. It has a message of facing your fears, especially because you might end up liking something new. I would probably not use this book in a lesson; this is more of the kind of book that I would simply like to have in my classroom. Though it does have a good message about facing fears, I think there are definitely better options compared to this book. I think kids would enjoy reading this book on their own because there area a lot of easy words or words that are easy to sound out. Kids would also enjoy it because many of them could probably easily relate to this book. A fear of swimming is not uncommon, especially at the age that the reader would most likely be. The illustrations are all done in blue, white, black, and yellow. ( )

Sergio is a penguin from Argentina, way down by the South Pole. He likes a lot of things, but the three things he loves the most are soccer, fishies, and water. He loves water in all forms, from puddles to rain to ice, because it makes him feel so many emotions, happy, silly, playful, relaxed, which of course, make him thirsty for a glass of water! But as much as Sergio loves water, he’s also afraid of it because he can’t swim. He’s terrified on the first day of school when his class goes for a field trip to ocean to learn to swim. His teacher reminds him that the ocean is like a bath or a puddle, just bigger, “And you know those little fishes you love so much? Where do you think they come from?” Through much coaxing by his teacher and classmates, and reassuring himself that his life preserver, snorkel, and floaties will help, Sergio is finally able to jump into the water. And what do you think? He loves it, of course!

The eye-catching illustrations were done with oil-based woodblock ink, printed on paper, and combined with digital media. Rodriguez uses only four colors (white, black, orange, and blue) to create Sergio’s watery world and the results are magnificent. The color palate frees, rather than limits, Rodriguez to give equal weight to the composition and layout of each page. The text is short and easy to read. Speech bubbles are frequently used, which adds an element of fun.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2012/05/book-134-sergio-makes-splash-by-edel...

Sergio is a penguin who loves the water, but he's afraid to swim. He gets a little help from his teacher and classmates, oh and his floaties. ( )