Pool
by
JiHyeon Lee
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Imprint
Chronicle
ISBN
9781452142944
Awards and Honors
Capitol Choices 2016
The New York Times Notable Children’s Books of 2015, Picture Books
ALA Notable Books for Children 2016, Older Readers
2016 USBBY Outstanding International Book List, PrS–Gr2
2015 Cyblis Awards Nomination, Fiction Picture Books
BuzzFeed’s 17 of the Most Beautifully Illustrated Picture Books of 2015
Best Multicultural Books of 2015
USBBY Outstanding International Books List, 2016: Grades PreK–2
Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of 2016, Today
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
In this wordless book, what happens when two shy children meet at a very crowded pool? Dive in to find out! Full-color illustrations rendered in colored pencils and oil pastels.
For ideas about using wordless books, click here.
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
Details
Format
Page Count
56
Trim Size
9" x 12"
Dewey
E
AR
0: points 0
Genre
Fiction
Scholastic Reading Counts
0
JLG Release
Jun 2015
Book Genres
Topics
Friendship. Swimming pools. Underwater exploration. Magic. Stories without words.
Standard MARC Records
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Cover Art
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Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
The Horn Book Magazine, The Horn Book Guide^, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly*, School Library Journal*
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
[STARRED REVIEW]
This unique and elegant wordless adventure follows a timid boy’s foray into a crowded public pool. Due to the crash of humanity cramming the water with their comical bulk and myriad of blow-up gear, the goggled hero dives deep and discovers a female counterpart, who leads him to a forest of fantastic aquatic creatures and plants. Some fish are friendly enough to pat; others embrace the children into their school. A group of fiercer-looking fish flee, allowing the humans to enjoy a white whale’s visit. The tamer underwater inhabitants lead the children back to the surface for their return to the deck. Lee’s artistic choices are brilliant. The rowdy crowd is depicted in black, white, and gray line drawings and contrasts with the joyful aquatic world in colored pencils and pastels. The large format and the artist’s generous use of solid space greatly expand the journey’s vistas. VERDICT Lee’s debut picture book is a swan dive.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA
Horn Book
An inviting jacket pulls readers into this quietly engrossing wordless book. The title appears on the cover in clean sans serif type, its double letter Os echoed in the illustration below: a pair of perfectly round (think John Lennon) swim goggles on the perfectly round head of a young swimmer. (The otherworldly fishlike creatures emerging from the boy’s lenses tell readers to expect something more exciting than a swim lesson.) The story begins as the boy approaches a pristine and empty pool—only to have a crowd of mostly grown-up people, in a variety of body shapes, stampede past him into the water. The disagreeable group fills the entire length of the pool, and, ironically, no one is actually swimming; all are bobbing about on inflatable tubes and rafts. Undaunted, the boy dives in, neatly swimming below the mass of legs, where he meets another young swimmer; together, boy and girl discover a strange and beautiful underwater world of fantastic Shaun Tan–esque creatures. Using colored pencils and oil pastels, Korean illustrator Lee employs color to contrast the two realities: until the boy enters the pool, the only hue on the cream pages is the blue of the water—now, the two underwater swimmers and everything around them are in color, and when they eventually leave the pool, the colors stay with them. The final page hints at further adventures as the last person out of the pool—a young girl from that noisy crowd—turns and catches an enticing glimpse of the underwater creatures. jennifer m. brabander
Grades K-1
Primary Plus
For Grades K-1
Our Primary level is filled with so many great books, it wasn't possible to offer just 12 selections a year. Our P+ category makes a great thing even better-bringing you 12 additional titles for the same reading level.
14 books per Year
$276.08 per Year
Interests
Beginning Readers,Fiction,Picture Books,Storytime/Read Alouds
Grades K-1
Primary Plus
14 books per Year
$276.08 per Year
