The Whale in My Swimming Pool

Reviewed by: Sally Holt - Raymond Village Library, Raymond, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 10, 2015

Review

A whale in a swimming pool is quite a vision in this supersized, modernistic and brightly illustrated children's book. Upon finding a giant whale in his swimming pool which leaves no room for him, the little boy tries everything he can think of to get the whale out. He tries a game of fetch, baiting a fish hook with a tasty fish treat, playing a game of tag and even resorts to a crane to lift the whale out of the pool to no avail.

Making the best of the situation, the little boy, discovers how fun it is to slide down the whale and ride atop the water spewing out of the whale's blow hole. After a rather frustrating afternoon, he is called in for a nap to discover a huge bear holding "his" teddy bear, asleep on the bed. Peering through the window with a smile is the whale...finally out of the pool.

"Oh, great. He snores!"

This book would work well with a large group as the illustrations are very large and colourful. Simple large black lettering would also work well for a child learning to read.

Joyce Wan is also the author of several board books, including Your Are My Cupcake and My Lucky Little Dragon.

Overall Book Score: very good