Gaia Cornwall

Even though he's successfully finished his swiming lessons, Jabari discovers that he's frightened at the thought of jumping off a diving board.

Jabari Jumps

This was a super cute story about Jabari overcoming his nervousness about jumping off the diving board. He decides today's the day he's gonna do it, but standing at the bottom of the ladder is a little intimidating and he keeps finding excuses to let others go before him. Eventually his dad tells him it's okay to be scared and sometimes you just need to take a big breath and think of it as a surprise, rather than something to be scared of. With a little more work, Jabari is able to make that big leap and he absolutely loves the experience. 

I adored the illustrations in this book. Cornwall uses a mix of pencil, watercolor, collage, and digital coloring and it's just beautifully done. I loved the blue and green palette of the book, which gives off a fresh, swimming-pool-on-a-summer-day vibe. I loved the little bits of newspaper that were used on large white spaces and the buildings in the background. I'm not sure why exactly I liked them so much, but I really really did.

Jabari Jumps

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