Why am I passionate about this?
If you want to live your best life, youāll need to face some fears. Iāve faced a lot of my fears: great white sharks, sky-diving, caves, spiders, meat sauces. Iām still scared, but what else can I do? Stay in bed my whole life? I love writing and illustrating for kids. Itās how Iāve spent the last twenty years. Iāve written and/or illustrated almost fifty books. The scariest part is figuring out how to start. Thinking of an ending is scary too. Then thereās all that stuff in the middle. Ugh! My first books about facing fears were Hippo and Rabbit. Now, Scaredy Cats. Fear gives me ideas!
Jeff's book list on childrenās picture books about facing your fears
Why did Jeff love this book?
I feel like I lived this story as a kid. Iāll bet a lot of kids do. A young boy overcomes his fear of the high dive.
Step by step, Gaia Cornwall takes us through Jabariās jump. Jabari starts by telling his dad heās not scared at all. He clearly is. He delays, makes excuses. Dad never pushes. He wants this to be Jabariās decision, Jabariās victory. Itās so relatable, the perspective even changes to first person once Jabari is high above the pool.
Everything rings true. Itās exactly what a scared kid would say and do. Itās exactly what I said and did when I was Jabariās age trying to summon my own courage on the high dive. Except when I hit the water, my swim trunks fell off.
6 authors picked Jabari Jumps as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.
Working up the courage to take a big, important leap is hard, but Jabari is almost absolutely ready to make a giant splash.
In a sweet tale of overcoming your fears, debut author-illustrator Gaia Cornwall captures a moment at the swimming pool between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can't help but root for. Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swimming test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari, watching the other kids take theirā¦
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