Hop aprende a nadar

Esther van den Berg (1982) studied illustration at the art academy in Kampen, where she also grew up. At the academy, she liked to stand with her fingers in the black ink of one of the printing presses. After a good turn, etchings, linocuts, and monotypes appeared on the other side of the printing press.After her graduation she left for the Randstad and worked as a designer. Only eight years after her graduation it started to itch again; she had to start drawing again! Under the name PUIKEPRENT, she tried new things as an illustrator.Nowadays Esther largely makes her illustrations digitally. Because of her artisanal education, she is always looking for the right texture and a hand-painted feeling. Her prints are atmospheric, with an eye for detail, often with a wink.

“Now that all the little frogs in the pond are a bit bigger, their mamá wants them to learn how to swim properly, so they are all taking swimming lessons. Little Hop is the only frog who is still smaller, and he tends to get distracted during the lessons. The frogs learn how to float, lay on their backs on the water, swim completely under the water, swim on their bellies, and swim with clothes on. As a final challenge, all frogs must leap into the water from a tall perch, and what Hop thinks is the lowest perch turns out to be the highest of them all. Young readers will want to pore over the illustrations as they try to spot Hop’s distractions during each of the swimming lessons. The lovely renderings include breathtaking spreads of pond life and silly close-ups of Hop and his antics and the life of his fellow frogs. The bright palette of blues, yellows, and reds complement the cheerful text. The variation of spreads, visual vignettes, and panels give the art a dynamic feel. The Spanish text clearly distinguishes between speech, narration, and Hop’s thoughts through the fonts and font sizes. So much to enjoy here! VERDICT A wonderful choice for Spanish-language picture book that would make a great summer read. Kids will want to dip right in.” — School Library Journal *Starred review