Splish Splash Splosh! by Renae Hayward illustrated by Briony Stewart

What's the best on a summer day?

Grandpa knows – it's water play!

Off we go now! Sunscreen's done.

Splish, splash, splosh, let's have some fun!

This book celebrates summer fun with water play, mud puddles and a patient grandfather. As the publisher says: From sprinklers to mud pies to paddling pools, there's nothing kids love better than messing around with water, and this joyous celebration of summer fun is a delight to read out loud.

The best picture books are the ones where the illustrations perfectly enrich the text. I have said this before, but I enjoy thinking about an illustrator, in this case Briony Stewart, receiving one typed page of text and then thinking about, creating and imagining each scene along with designing the perfect place for page turns. The words give us the story yes, but the illustrations in Splish Splash Splosh! go so much further for example after the day of fun with all that water and the wild spraying of the garden hose, the kids come inside for a bath (yes that is in the text) but turn the page and we see the three kids snuggling in with Grandpa enjoying a reading a book together. This image comes entirely from the imagination of Briony Stewart. And make sure you go back through the book and look at the antics of their family dog. 

I visited a public library today and it had so many young children with their grandparents. Childcare by grandparents is a common part of daily life now and this book beautifully celebrates the joy of those relationships. 

The other wonderful part of this book is the repeated refrain "We're out of water, Grandpa ... more!" A repeated refrain is such a terrific device for read aloud sessions with your youngest readers. And make sure you tilt the cover to see the way the title words shine with spot varnish. 

Image source: Allen and Unwin

Companion book:

Summer Blue

This is a brand-new book from Allen and Unwin published today! and only AUS$22.99. I am sure we will see this book listed by the CBCA in their notable Early Childhood titles for 2027 and I predict it surely will make the shortlist. If you work with very young children in a preschool or you are looking for a wonderful summer holiday or Christmas gift, make sure you head out to your local independent bookstore and grab a copy or two of this book. Huge thanks to Allen and Unwin for my advance copy. 

Renae Hayward was born during a cyclone in Western Australia's Pilbara region but grew up by the beaches of Perth's northern suburbs. She has authored several books for children including Say Hooray and Say Hello, which were both shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards, and the CBCA Notable Book, Say Goodnight. She has also contributed as a poet to The School Magazine and the children's anthologies Right Way Down and If I Could Eat the Stars. Renae now lives near Fremantle ... 

Briony Stewart is an author and illustrator of books for children and the young at heart. She lives in Walyalup/Fremantle, in Western Australia. Briony's chief loves are language, word play, whimsy and wonder, and she enjoys working across all categories of children's books in a diverse range of styles and processes. Briony's work has won several awards including CBCA Picture Book of the Year for Gymnastica Fantastica, CBCA Honour Book for We Love You Magoo, and a Prime Minister's Literary Award for Mina and the Whole Wide World (written by Sherryl Clark), among others. Her bestselling books include These Little Feet (written by Hayley Rawsthorne), Bedtime Sorted! (written by Jimmy Rees) and Accidentally Kelly Street.

For more books about playing with mud take a look at this post from Kinderbookswitheverything.

Watching the three children playing with the hose, watering the garden and jumping in their small paddling pool I also thought of this Bluey episode Trampoline (series two episode 33): and where the kids are waiting for their Takeaway and they play with the tap outside the restaurant (series one episode 14; and Slide (series three episode 46).

Slide

Trampoline

Takeaway