I’m Swimming in the Toilet…PLEASE DON’T FLUSH!
By Len Foley
Meet Flick the Frog who loves swimming in the toilet… please don’t flush!
Anna’s Review – 5 stars
Follow the adventure of a frog who learns an important lesson about ignoring warning signs in I’m Swimming in the Toilet…Please don’t Flush by Len Foley.
While the cover shows this hilarious frog swimming in the toilet with its goggles and snorkel, this book is very quick to intrigue its audience with the entertaining thought of a frog in a toilet bowl. And this was not an accident! The frog desperately sought to jump in, not heeding all the warnings around it. The picture of a human hand about to flush the toilet, also on the cover, ignites the initial suspense in questioning if the frog will be flushed down the toilet or not.
Flick the frog is accompanied by a peanut—who is a lifeguard, Donnie—a dog with a toilet cleaning service, a shoe, which is more like a boot, and a potato named Alfredo. After a dozen warnings, the frog follows its desire to jump into the chilly, blue pool after baking in the sun.
As these characters bond through the activity around the toilet and beyond it, the author does a great job teasing his audience with what falls into the toilet, along with the frog. You can almost hear the kids’ reactions on every page. The consequences of the frog’s actions give children a chance to gain a deeper understanding of plumbing and a rather archaic waste management system.
This creative and imaginative children’s story will captivate you from the book cover. I enjoyed the combination of cartoon illustrations and day-to-day realistic objects this story incorporates.
Although I’m Swimming in the Toilet…Please don’t Flush by Len Foley is a lively story aimed towards kids in preschool to 2nd grade, I would say adults could glean from the simple lesson it presents. Take heed of warning signs, especially if they’re everywhere you look. You could be keeping yourself out of some stinky mush!
Since this book is an original, humorous read with fun, colorful illustrations, and includes a nice combination of events that could happen in real life, plus the silliness we enjoy in children’s books, I rate this book 5 out of 5.
