Down by the Cool of the Pool

This book is a modern fantasy that I really enjoyed and I feel like younger students would enjoy even more. The writing of the book was done in a fun, yet organized way that was still easy to follow along with. The words were written in the form of a wave, which relates back to the book being about the animals at a pond. The author used fun words for each animal like “whee” for the frog, “flap” for the duck, “wiggle” for the pig and so forth. Using descriptive, action words like that make it easier for the children to picture what the animals are doing and to even get involved with the story. The children could follow along with the story for acting out the words like wiggle and flap. This makes the story more interactive show more and appealing to the children instead of just words on a page that they are forced to read. Also, I liked this book because of the illustrations. On every page, the animals all had a smile on their faces and they were all getting along as they danced. The illustrations helped set the mood for the book because seeing all the animal’s smiling faces put me in a better mood and evoked an emotion out of me. I also noticed that the way the words rhymed and flowed and the way the illustrations were made me sing the book as a song. The author says, “Goat butted in with and a hop, and frog cried, “Wheeee! That’s great! Don’t stop”. I was silently reading in my head, but I noticed I had created a tune to go along with the story because so much excitement was created and the words flowed together so nicely. The big idea of this story is that even though all the animals were different and made different movements or sounds, they were all able to dance together and have a good time. This shows children that they should try to make friends with everyone even if they aren’t just like them. show less

Fun to read aloud, and fun way to teach verbs like Flap, Wriggle, Stamp, Drum (donkey's hoofs).  If I were a preschool teacher I'd like to use it to get the kids up and moving.  Older kids could use it to inspire creative writing.  My star rating reflects *my* personal opinion; many of you might find it more appealing.

A fun book to use when working on onomatopoeia, vivid verbs and playfulness with text and font. Words dance as much as the animals in this book! It feels joyful and vibrant.

Visually stunning book! I love the bright colors! The story is cute involving many animals doing what they do best together. Rhyming and interesting font design make this a really fun book to read.

I love rhyming books and this one was especially good because of all the movement and fun things in the book. The animals make it a fun read and are illustrated very beautifully.

This is a great interactive book for a classroom setting with group participation. The color illustrations are engaging and encourage problem solving skills, reading comprehension, and memory strength. I think this would be a great lap book for one on one. I would recommend this for any collection wanting a new take on an old classic.

Visually stunning book! I love the bright colors! The story is cute involving many animals doing what they do best together. Rhyming and interesting font design make this a really fun book to read.