Rob Polley
Program Director
SwimAmerica

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Water Safety is the most important thing  Jul 05, 2002
Ive read this book to my sister so many times and the first time i ever read it to her..she memorized it the rules and the song. It is so easy to catch on to and is very fun but a important message. This is the BEST book and you should get this for any young children. ...it could save your childs life. I HIGHLY recommend this book!!

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Jim Pugliese, Father of Six-Year OId Andrew  Jul 02, 2002 By jim pugliese
I usually read three or four different books to my son at bedtime, but now we read "Stewie the Duck" and sing the "Water Safety Song" from the CD! Andrew even requests that we play the CD in the car, and we all sing the water safety song together! This book is a must-have for anyone with young children, because water safety is "the most important thing".

5 of 6 found the following review helpful:


A Must for Every Toddler - Reinforcement of Safety Rules  Aug 19, 2005 By Busy Mom
This is a very basic story about a duck who isn't allowed to swim with the other ducks until he learns the rules. The main ideas of the story are repeated several times throughout the book and set to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. The song goes "Don't jump in 'til you learn to swim, cover your chest with a safe life vest. A grown up must watch you in the pool. You'll be safe if you learn these rules."

The book includes a CD that includes reading the of the story as well as different children singing the same song about five times. I did not give this book a five star rating because the children singing on the cd cannot sing and will make the hair on your back stand up if you are any bit musically inclined. There is one track on the cd that has all the kids singing together and is bearable to listen too.

Nonetheless, this book and cd are a favorite of my 2 and 4 year old girls (I would not recommend this book for anyone over six). I keep the cd in the kitchen all summer long and I play it while I get breakfast ready, especially on days that we go to the pool or beach. The girls especially love it because the book shows Stewie learning to swim at the YMCA where my girls are also taking swimming lessons.

Please note that this book only teaches safety rules and does not provide any instruction for swimming.

I will also mention that the author, Stew Leonard, the supermarket entrepeneur, got involved in water safety for children after his son drowned. This is an excellent tool for all parents to use to avoid this kind of tragedy. I strongly recommend it for every toddler.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:


Cute, but not what I was looking for  Dec 17, 2006 By Shelly Smith
I am a water safety instructor who teaches swimming lessons according to American Red Cross Guidelines. I teach outside so on days it rains we have to find other activities. I thought this book would be perfect for my younger students, but the Red Cross already makes a book close to what this book is teaching. I think this book is perfect for parents who want their children to know about water safety if they have a pool or grow up/vacation around bodies of water. Touching story as to why the parents wrote the book. I admire them for what they have done.

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