Review By Gabrielle
Lucy Ruth Cummins has captured the magic of the community pool in this delightful picture book.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Today is a pool day in the city! The sun is shining, so what are you waiting for? Friends and family. Kids and grandparents. Big bodies and small bodies. Everybody is welcome at our pool! Get ready for swimming and splashing, zigzagging and dunking, and racing and laughing.
If you’ve ever been to a public pool on a super hot day, you understand their importance. Not just a place to cool off, community pools are meeting places. A neutral space where everyone is welcome and new friendships are forged, and old ones are strengthened. It’s a place to greet your neighbours and catch up on what’s happening in the neighbourhood. This book is a fitting tribute to these critical places.
With sensory invoking words and phrases, Lucy transports us to a hot summer day. You can practically feel the heat of the pavement and the cool relief of the pool. I love how she captured all the ways to enjoy the pool. All the games that get made up, the silence under the surface, and even the way everyone freezes when the lifeguard’s whistle blows.
Kids will love the joyful illustrations in their watercolour glory. With bright colours that capture the intensity of hot summer days, the pictures add to your enjoyment of the story. And I love the way the book is designed. The variation in text and layout will keep kids interested and flipping the pages to see what comes next.
A great read aloud story for the littles in your life, Our Pool is the perfect story for hot summer days.
Thank you, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
