.png)
Healing Waters
- Clover
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
Hot weather hits and pools, lakes and oceans beckon with promises to come. Take the plunge but don’t forget to pack a book in your bag for downtime. There’s nothing like floating in the cool to relax and recharge, while a story waits in the shade of an umbrella or towering tree.
With my June Picks, you’ll be in the swim. Get set to meet main characters in a trio of books, all of whom need “Healing Waters” to quell their worries and fears. This summer make it your goal to “Page On!”
The Community Literacy Foundation, in partnership with Neighborhood Reads, and with support from its sponsors, provides these books at no cost to 38 schools in Washington, Union, Pacific, St. Clair and surrounding communities and to the Washington Public Library. Learn more at CommunityLiteracyFoundation.org.
Youngest Read
Sea turtles are supposed to love the ocean, the surf and sun, the sand. But not the little one in “Nellie’s Big Splash,” another adorable read, written and illustrated by the talented Cori Doerrfeld.
It’s an arduous journey for a sea turtle to go from nest to surf—and bitty Nellie is challenged. She feels so small. The trek from sand to water is a chore, but once Nellie reaches the edge of the water, she’s frozen in fear. The waves threaten to eat her in one gulp. Though Nellie wants to go surf-side, she takes refuge in a big shell, her safe place growing perilous as the waves advance.
Nellie figures all she can do is to get away from the water, but more and more distance is needed to quell her terror. Not even having a big seal at her side quiets Nellie’s anxiety as she looks longingly at her siblings having fun in the waves, wishing she could join them.
As she pines on the shore, an “aha” thought hits Nellie like the waves she’s avoiding—her insight is a lesson for human bee-ings and bees too, “look inside” yourselves to “find something bigger that any of (your) fears.” Avoidance isn’t the answer for fear. Courage is.
Middle Read
“Our Lake” holds lots of memories for a boy and his big brother in an endearing story by Angie Kang. Getting to the lake isn’t easy, the path is steep as the brothers maneuver their way along, finally reaching the end of their trek, a huge boulder jutting out of the water.
In the golden light, surrounded by blue, the two peer down into the water, recalling past times when they visited this favorite spot with their father.
The boys take off their shirts, do a few stretches and then walk to the edge of the rock. Big brother slips “neatly into the lake” while little brother stands back, his face wearing concern, his hands tightly clasped in front of him. Though his older brother is thrilled to be in the water, and urges his little brother to join him, the boy hesitates, terrified to make the jump. “The water looks so far away … the ground wiggles. I close my eyes.”
From behind his eyes, little brother sees Father, golden light a backdrop as Father stands on the huge boulder, his two boys looking up at him in love. One memory leads to another as little brother pictures his father going through the same routine to enter the water as big brother has just done. “Father turns toward us and beckons us into the water with a grin. Father’s laugh leaps through my bones, making them bird-light.”
And with that mental picture little brother takes flight, an arrow in the air, as he dives into the lake, just as his father has taught him, discovering peace and acceptance in “togetherness.”
Oldest Read
Kai Sosa is about to face his fears. His summer will be spent in the pool, training and competing. Almost an 8th grader, Kai was once a seasoned swimmer, but has been beached since his older sister, Cali, was lost in a “rouge” fog while surfing.
Kai is the main character in Pam Muńoz Ryan’s newest, a beautifully written pageturner. “El Nińo” is a magical novel about a boy who must come to grips with the loss of his beloved sister, a champion swimmer.
Kai showed great promise as a swimmer before the tragedy two years ago. He finally feels ready to get back in the water and participate in Aquarius Aquatics, an elite swimming group. His sister swam for Aquarius too, and was believed to be Olympic material, but her untimely death as a teenager ended that dream. Kai has big shoes to fill on the team because Cali was a “legend,” as is his father, both swimmers beyond compare.
After Cali’s accident, Kai suffered from night terrors and nightmares, often seeing Cali, and sometimes a figure beckoning to him from the surf outside his door. Is the figure an apparition or could it be Cali, whose name is reminiscent of Amazonia queen, Califia, “a descendent of the great myths of Greece, East Asia, and Spain.” The waters around the queen’s realm were rife with dolphins that protected her land. Cali also had an unworldly connection with dolphins.
As Kai’s summer evolves, he’s required to train in the ocean with his teammates. It’s an El Nińo summer, the warmth of the ocean creating flooding and high surf. In these mystical waters a surreal series of events unfolds that finally brings Kai peace and understanding in a book that combines the realistic with the fantastical, making for an unforgettable story.
Written by Chris Stuckenschneider.
Copyright 2025, Community Literacy Foundation.