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Welcome to Storyline Online brought to you by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
I'm Sheryl Lee Ralph and today I'm going to read,
'Jabari Jumps,' written and illustrated by Gaia Cornwall.
"I'm jumping off the diving board today," Jabari told his dad.
"Really?" said his dad.
The diving board was high and maybe a little scary,
but Jabari had finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and now he was ready to jump.
"I'm a great jumper," said Jabari, "so I'm not scared at all."
Jabari watched the other kids climb the long ladder.
They walked all the way out to the end of the board, as big as tiny bugs.
Then they stood on the edge.
They spread their arms and bent their knees.
And sprang up! up! up!
And then they dove down, down, down.
Splash!
"Looks easy," Jabari said.
But when his dad squeezed his hand,
Jabari squeezed back.
Jabari stood at the bottom of the ladder.
He looked up.
"You can go before me if you want," he told the kid behind him.
"I need to think about what kind of special jump I'm going to do."
Jabari thought and thought.
Jabari started to climb. Up and up.
This ladder is very tall, he thought.
"Are you okay?" called his dad.
"I'm just a little tired," said Jabari.
"Maybe you should climb down and take a tiny rest," said his dad.
A tiny rest sounded like a good idea.
When he got to the bottom, Jabari remembered something.
"I forgot to do my stretches!" he said to his dad.
"Stretching is very important," said his dad.
"I think tomorrow might be a better day for jumping," Jabari said.
They looked up at the diving board together.
"It's okay to feel a little scared," said his dad.
"Sometimes, if I feel a little scared,"
"I take a deep breath and tell myself I am ready."
"And you know what? Sometimes it stops feeling scary and feels..."
"...a little like a surprise."
Jabari loved surprises.
Jabari took a deep breath
and felt it fill his body from the ends of his hair
right down to the tips of his toes.
Jabari looked up.
He began to climb.
Up and up.
And up and up.
Until he got to the top.
Jabari stood up straight.
He walked all the way
to the end of the board.
His toes curled around the rough edge.
Jabari looked out as far as he could see.
He felt like he was ready.
"I love surprises," he whispered.
He took a deep breath and spread his arms and bent his knees.
Then he sprang up!
Up off the board!
Flying!
Jabari hit the water with a
SPLASH!
Down, down, down, he went.
And then back up!
Whoosh!
"Jabari! You did it!" said his dad.
"I did it!" said Jabari.
"I'm a great jumper!"
"And you know what?"
"What?" said his dad.
"Surprise double backflip is next!"
The end.
So what I like about this book is when I was little
I went away to Girl Scout Camp.
And that's where I learned how to swim.
And I was afraid to dive.
Like Jabari, I was a little frightened of taking the jump off into the deep end.
But, just like Jabari learned to face the fear, take a deep breath, exhale.
Feel it fill you up. Knowing that you can do it.
I like that. Taking a big leap, yeah, it can be hard.
But once you feel like you've got it...
Guess what? You've got it.
Go on, take that big leap.
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