With the start of the Summer Olympics just around the corner, there may be some young aspiring swimmers out there wanting to learn a little more about the sport.
Karen Board of Burnt Hills anticipated the arrival of the games and the hopes of young athletes a couple of years ago and has timed things just right to have her first book entitled “Splish! Splash! Dolphins and Kids Having Fun in Water” to debut this summer.
“Every four years swimming is on TV with the Olympics and there’s a tendency for a lot of children to want to join some teams, especially with Michael Phelps being in the spotlight so much,” she said.
Board is a teacher and lives in Burnt Hills. She has taught at the South Colonie School District and currently teaches preschoolers at Head Start in Galway.
She said she’s always wanted to write a children’s book and drew on her experience as a teacher and swimmer when writing “Splish! Splash!” Board was a competitive swimmer through college, and now her sons who are 10 and 12have also made swimming their sport.
She got the idea to write the book while at one of her son’s swim team practices. The team is called the Parkside Porpoises, and that in turn got Board thinking about dolphins and researching them.
“The more I researched dolphins, the more I realized that they’re quite similar to humans … very smart and playful and friendly,” she said.
Her original idea was to write a story only about swimming, but dolphins added a way to deliver the message in a fun and light way. She also used the topic to approach another goal: writing about different swimming strokes.
“I’ve never seen a children’s book that actually shows the swimming strokes broken down,” she said. “I wanted to show what the arms are doing, what the legs are doing and how the breathing is.”
The characters in the book are Jack and Olivia, two children who take off for a day of swimming. Olivia is armed with a couple of riddles and a lot of information about dolphins and Jack is full of questions. As Jack’s questions are answered, Board’ time spent researching the mammals shows through. Part of that effort was spent speaking with experts at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota Fla.
“The Mote” is well known for its research. Board’s mother, Carol Fischbein, lives near Sarasota and works at the laboratory where Board and her family visit when the opportunity arises.
Dr. Randy Wells is the director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program at the Mote and was a valuable resource for Board.
“He was able to read through the story and made a few corrections,” Board said.
Adults and kids alike are bound to learn a little something in Board’s book.
“Only half of their (dolphins’) brains sleeps at a time, that way they can always be alert so they can come to the surface to breathe,” said Board.
Once Board got her manuscript finished she shopped it out to more than a dozen publishers, finally finding the right, local fit in Stone Fence Publishing in Burnt Hills. From that point, she coordinated with Sharon Swain who is the illustrator for the book.
Swain said it the project was appealing because it incorporated fiction and non-fiction.
“Karen is a very driven person who is always ready for a challenge and eager to have feedback. She was very easy to work with,” said Swain.
Swain’s husband, Mark Swain, started the publishing company last year to give new authors a place to realize their dreams.
Board is already at work on her next book, one about egg-laying animals expected out next year.
“Splish! Splash! Dophins and Kids Having Fun in Water” is for sale at the Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady and Mail and More in Burnt Hills. During the week of Aug. 6, Board will be at the YMCA in Glenville for signings and the following week she’ll be at the Town of Ballston Library.
For more information on the book, visit stonefencepublishing.com.