Review by Booklist Review
Oh, the delights of spending a day at the public swimming pool--changing clothes, spraying on the sun block, and diving in with so many others in "an ice-cold bowl of City People Soup!" Outside sounds fade into the background as splashy fun, punctuated by the lifeguard's whistle and interrupted only by a quick bagel break ("Mom says my fingers look as much like raisins as the raisins do!"), goes on until it's time for one last "CANNONBALL!" Then a walk home leads, of course, past the ice cream truck, and later, when night falls, it's off to dreamland. Capped by what appears to be a big, fanciful foldout scene of bubbles rising from apartment buildings toward a huge full moon, Cummins' illustrations are crowded with people diverse in race, age, dress, and body type, parading down sidewalks, lounging poolside on towels, or happily immersed in the cool-looking water. A refreshing celebration of the right place to be on a hot summer day.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Public pools, those unsung heroes of public good, have found their bard in Cummins (Sleepy Sheepy). In vibrant gouache and colored pencil hues that are reminiscent of a schoolchild's paint set, initial pages show a variously inclusive parade of city dwellers "sweating, and smiling, and skip-stepping toward... OUR POOL!" As the illustrations move over, around, and under the be-goggled crowd in compositions ranging from reportorial to bird's-eye view, the story's kid narrator enthusiastically recounts the ritual-like pleasures of pool-going, from getting changed to getting in ("I'm the JUMP-RIGHT-IN! type") to breathless communal reactions over the sun's movements to a final, parting cannonball. In a cleverly executed conceit, the first-person narrator is never tied to a specific individual: when Mom insists on sunscreen, Cummins zooms in on four adult hands brandishing bottles and cans; when the narrator floats behind Mom "like a cape," readers see multiple parent-child pairs moving through the water in a line. It's a joyfully saturated vision of e pluribus unum shown via "an ice-cold bowl of City People Soup!" Ages 4--8. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. (June)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A child and their mother take a trip to the city pool on a hot day. The sounds of clanking in the locker room, a pause to apply sunblock, the muffling of noises under the water--everything about this outing is thrilling. The young narrator (the tale is told in first person, although there's no specific character identified as the narrator within the illustrations) notes that swimmers have various body and skin types ("even sunburned skin--OUCH!"), and everyone has different ways of entering the water--some make their way in slowly, one toe at a time, while others dive right in. Everyone swims or lounges in their preferred manner. They float, splash (pausing for the lifeguard's whistle), flip, dive, and swim through legs like dolphins. For most of this, the swimmers are united ("I" switching to "we"), but never more so than when a cloud covers the sun, everyone waiting until the sun shines again, and there's a collective cheer! The ritual of leaving is just as important--one more "CANNONBALL!" before everyone gets ice cream at a waiting truck. The merriment, beauty, and comforting routines of a pool day are on full display in this celebration of an urban summer tradition. Both the chatty, child-friendly text and the gouache, colored pencil, and digitally finished artwork ooze exuberance; Cummins' saturated colors and energetic, curving waves are utterly inviting. The cast is racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Pure summer fun. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
