Start Small

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They say once you learn to swim, you never forget. But getting there takes practice.

In Little Otter Learns to Swim, a children’s picture book published by Ohio University Press and released last September, author Artie Knapp, AIS ’04, created a story that demonstrates the value of persistence in overcoming one’s fear when learning new skills.

“Watching my daughter swim made me wonder which animals, like humans, have to be taught to swim. That curiosity kick-started my research,” Knapp says. Knapp was surprised to learn that North American river otters must learn to swim despite displaying a natural grace in the water. “Before one is graceful at anything, there will be stumbling blocks along the way. I felt that made a great premise for a children’s book.”

Now that Knapp knew what story he wanted to tell, he turned to the images. He envisioned a rich river landscape emerging through the illustrations. He reached out to internationally known wildlife artist Guy Hobbs, who created vibrant, warm, and playful images which give readers an otter’s-eye view of the dangers and wonders of the wild.

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Knapp’s book serves as a tribute to the species, one that had become extinct due to trapping in some areas but has rebounded in Ohio and beyond. The California-based River Otter Ecology Project contributed facts about the North American river otter for the back of the book, grounding the book as a message about conservation.

Like otters learning to swim, anyone learning to read has to start small, beginning with the ABCs before moving on to reading books. Knapp’s daughter is an avid reader of the latter. “She’s 9 now and reads Harry Potter on her own,” he says. “I love hearing her tell me about her reading adventures.” When she’s not swimming, that is.