JACK WONG has created a masterpiece drawn from his lived experience of growing up with a grandmother who spent her childhood in the rivers of Borneo and a mother — growing up in late 1950s China — who was forbidden to learn to swim. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Jack holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada, where he now lives with his wife and two cats.
Praise for When You Can Swim:
* "In visually inventive, lovingly finished pastel-and-watercolor spreads and sinuous lines of prose-poetry, debut author-illustrator Wong showcases myriad children encountering the joys of swimming...Such belonging is precisely the triumph that the story envisions, offering swimming’s freedoms widely, and imagining the way that swimming can lend a feeling of autonomy and connection." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "With endpapers that depict an Asian child gazing uncertainly at their own reflection in a pool, this book offers beginning swimmers both reassurance and compelling promises of adventure and discovery that will ensue “when you can swim.”...The title is bound to inspire all swimmers to embrace nature, no matter where they are on their journey." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "Jack Wong’s BREATHTAKING watery landscapes, strong currents surge beneath rushing waterfalls, and sunlight shimmers on ocean waves and the surface of a river. Text and illustrations merge SEAMLESSLY to illuminate the ways in which swimming animates all the senses, and Wong writes with BEGUILING LYRICISM…Wong’s playful perspectives are CAPTIVATING...” -- BookPage, starred review
