Pool

by JiHyeon Lee

Overview

An NPR Best Book of the Year: This wordless tale of two children’s underwater adventure “will stay with you even after you close the book and resurface” (The Boston Globe).
 
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Gold Medal Winner, Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Show
A Fort Worth Star-Telegram Best Book of the Year
 
What happens when two shy children meet at a very crowded pool? Dive in to find out! Deceptively simple, this masterful book tells a story of quiet moments and surprising encounters, and reminds us that friendship and imagination have no bounds.
 
“A wonderful addition to any library, home or classroom.” —Montreal Gazette
 
“A quiet tribute to the beauty of hidden depths.” —The Wall Street Journal
 
“Perfect for preschoolers (and anyone with an imagination!).” —Good Housekeeping

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452150383
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	03/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	56
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	1 - 12 Years

About the Author

JiHyeon Lee was born in South Korea, where she earned degrees in art, design, and illustration, and where she still lives today. Pool is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

Pool is similar thematically to gorgeous wordless fantasy stories like David Wiesner's Caldecott Medal-winning Flotsam, Aaron Becker's Caldecott Honor-winning Journey or Barbara Lehman's Caldecott Honor-winning The Red Book. It deserves a place among them. Lee's story opens the reader to miracles that can be uncovered in ordinary situations, both through the wonder of the imagination and the natural world. The wonder of friendship, too.

The New York Times Book Review - Emily Jenkins

★ 03/09/2015
In this wordless debut, Korean artist Lee combines imaginative power and emotional restraint. With a murmur of shaded pencil, she draws a boy in a bathing cap and goggles standing alone beside a public pool. Swimmers arrive suddenly and crowd the water—some are all but indistinguishable from the blubbery inflatable toys they carry—taking up every available bit of space. Diving beneath them, the boy heads straight down. Now, Lee draws the boy and the world he discovers in full color. A girl his age swims toward him, and together they play and explore, swimming among schools of wildly improbable fish of scarlet and blue, fish with snouts like snorkels and fins like ferns. They play hide-and-seek among the sea vents, encounter more threatening fish, and then, deeper still, find themselves eye-to-enormous-eye with a placid, whalelike behemoth. When the two surface and exit the pool, they exchange a shy, intimate glance, silent testimony to all they’ve shared. It’s perhaps the quietest, least remarkable-seeming people, Lee suggests, who see what’s below the surface of the ordinary world. An auspicious and memorable debut. Ages 3–5. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"That arresting cover delivers on its promises. Beauty, whimsy, stillness, imagination."—This Picture Book Life

"That arresting cover delivers on its promises. Beauty, whimsy, stillness, imagination."—This Picture Book Life

"That arresting cover delivers on its promises. Beauty, whimsy, stillness, imagination."—This Picture Book Life

"The wide range of facial expressions on humans and fish alike encourage re-reading."-School Library Connection

"The wide range of facial expressions on humans and fish alike encourage re-reading."-School Library Connection

"The wide range of facial expressions on humans and fish alike encourage re-reading."-School Library Connection

"Makes you think, works on many different levels, and does it all without a single word, plunge right into Pool ."—Nerdy Book Club

"Makes you think, works on many different levels, and does it all without a single word, plunge right into Pool ."—Nerdy Book Club

"Makes you think, works on many different levels, and does it all without a single word, plunge right into Pool ."—Nerdy Book Club

"Expect something more exciting than a swim lesson."—The Horn Book Magazine

"Expect something more exciting than a swim lesson."—The Horn Book Magazine

"Expect something more exciting than a swim lesson."—The Horn Book Magazine

"An enchanting story of wonder and friendship. Dive right in."—BookPage

"An enchanting story of wonder and friendship. Dive right in."—BookPage

"An enchanting story of wonder and friendship. Dive right in."—BookPage

"This wordless book has details that urge storytelling and repeat examinations."—Raleigh News and Observier

"This wordless book has details that urge storytelling and repeat examinations."—Raleigh News and Observier

"This wordless book has details that urge storytelling and repeat examinations."—Raleigh News and Observier

"Combines imaginative power and emotional restraint... An auspicious and memorable debut."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Combines imaginative power and emotional restraint... An auspicious and memorable debut."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Combines imaginative power and emotional restraint... An auspicious and memorable debut."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Opens the reader to miracles that can be uncovered in ordinary situations."—The New York Times

"Opens the reader to miracles that can be uncovered in ordinary situations."—The New York Times

"Opens the reader to miracles that can be uncovered in ordinary situations."—The New York Times

"Will stay with you even after you close the book and resurface."—The Boston Globe

"Will stay with you even after you close the book and resurface."—The Boston Globe

"Will stay with you even after you close the book and resurface."—The Boston Globe

"A wordless masterpiece of space, scale, and silence... wonderful beyond words from cover to cover."—Brain Pickings

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2015
PreS-Gr 2—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

School Library Journal

2015-03-03
Two children with phenomenal lung capacity have an astonishing adventure in the neighborhood pool. A slim child clad in bathing cap, goggles, and trunks stands poolside; the water is smooth, blue, and empty. Then a throng of grotesque, mostly obese adults with inner tubes and rubber rafts descends, choking the pool's surface. The child enters the water anyway, diving below the paddling feet of the crowd, and is joined by another slender, capped, goggled child, this one sporting a skirted tank suit. Down the pair swim, past strange, birdlike fish to clusters of brightly colored tube worms. An uncluttered double-page spread suspends the two in an empty blue expanse; a turn of the page finds them eye to eye with a gentle, furred white whale. Readers will notice that Lee's palette takes on increasing vibrancy as the children explore; the first child's trunks, gray at the surface, are now bright blue, and the second child's suit is scarlet. The children retain their brilliant hues upon ascending and exiting, while the splashing crowd is still rendered in shades of gray. The message is wordless but clear: don't stay safely on the surface but dive deep to find friendship and wonder. While the contrast between the slender explorers and the fat intruders is unfortunate, Lee's control of palette and pacing makes this Korean import otherwise a delight. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews