Hop at Swimming Class

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.

“At some point, every kid struggles to learn a skill. This charming picture book frames the experience of being the slowest or youngest or last to catch on through a story of a tadpole taking swimming lessons with his older frog siblings. Tadpole Hop has a lot of disadvantages: his arm floaties reach down to his fingers, his swim ring can’t keep him from sinking, he gets lost swimming underwater. He is the worst or last at every step. But with the help of the Speedowearing toad lifeguard who advises, “Keep on kicking!” Hop eventually succeeds, diving off a high reed. The story comically blends naturalistic and fantastical details (like the frogs staging a costume parade), while the digital illustrations pull readers into a strange but familiar world, giving an amphibious view of the pond and filling the pages with animals and objects that glow like old enamel jewelry. Hop keeps trying and has fun along the way in this nice, comic lesson in perseverance.” – Booklist