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Pool
An NPR Best Book of the 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 YearGold Medal Winner, Society of Illustrators’ Original Art ShowA 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
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2015
10 people are currently reading
1104 people want to read
About the author
JiHyeon Lee
5 books28 followersJiHyeon Lee is a South Korean artist. Her first book, Pool, was a New York Times Notable Children's Book of the Year, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and was awarded the Gold Medal in the 2015 Society of Illustrators exhibition of children's book illustration.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
June 29, 2017
i finally "read" this, fulfilling a long-overdue promise to s, who was correct in thinking i would appreciate it. review coming, just a "thanks for the nudge, s!" for now.
February 19, 2019
A boy goes to a pool, it looks like an outdoor one. Suddenly crowds arrive and the pool is packed, we all know that feeling, the disappointment that the tranquillity has gone and the masses have arrived. The boy dives beneath the surface and all is quiet again, he meets a girl and they dive down to see new things. They find another world of fish and funny creatures, although they look a lot less funny than the creatures packing out the pool in the world above. A lovely moment of tranquillity, escaping the noisy surface of the pool and finding more in common with the beautiful creatures of the ocean than those of your own species. I have never seen this feeling put into a book before.
September 3, 2017
This was brilliant and beautiful.
The best thing about this picture book is that you can read it with whatever language you speak, because it is wordless. I never read a book without words. I thought I wouldn't be able to fully get it. But it was a great experience!
Here is an illustration from the book:
GO READ IT. You'll find a great friendship and a beautiful adventure.
The best thing about this picture book is that you can read it with whatever language you speak, because it is wordless. I never read a book without words. I thought I wouldn't be able to fully get it. But it was a great experience!
Here is an illustration from the book:
GO READ IT. You'll find a great friendship and a beautiful adventure.
November 5, 2016
A large and spacious and contemplative tale about the friendship of two quiet kids who meet at a pool. We meet one guy first who sits alone at one end of the pool as crowds of loud and rambunctious people tumble into the pool with their balls and floaty things. Wild loud people, and he's not in that group.
The boy dives down under them and discovers a like-minded girl to swim with, and down below they explore worlds of wild sea life--both real and fantasy--that the other loud folks may never find. They swim deeper and deeper, which becomes a kind of metaphor for discovering the world together, through close and thoughtful and quiet friendship. Very cool book.
The boy dives down under them and discovers a like-minded girl to swim with, and down below they explore worlds of wild sea life--both real and fantasy--that the other loud folks may never find. They swim deeper and deeper, which becomes a kind of metaphor for discovering the world together, through close and thoughtful and quiet friendship. Very cool book.
September 19, 2016
Pool is a beautifully illustrated wordless story about two kids who meet each other in a terribly crowded pool. At the beginning they look reluctant to interact, but sooner than later they dare to share a journey full of imagination, strange creatures, and fun. The deeper they dive, the deeper their friendship becomes.
Beautiful story by a incredible talented author and illustrator.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
Beautiful story by a incredible talented author and illustrator.
Find more children's book reviews in Reviews in Chalk
February 9, 2019
So beautiful! A boy meets a girl at a pool while he explores the water below all the other swimmers. Together, the girl and boy encounter many amazing and beautiful, and fantastic, creatures underwater. I loved the peaceful and joyful feelings conveyed by the lovely artwork illustrating this story of adventure and friendship.
October 28, 2016
4.5ish stars.
The only words we're provided are on the back cover and they're the only words we need: "For those who want to swim freely in the world."
This is a book about imagination, freedom, friendship, uniqueness, understanding and wonder.
Lee's illustrations are gorgeous, highly detailed sketches that tell a story all on their own.
Illustrations: 4.5
Story: 4.5
The only words we're provided are on the back cover and they're the only words we need: "For those who want to swim freely in the world."
This is a book about imagination, freedom, friendship, uniqueness, understanding and wonder.
Lee's illustrations are gorgeous, highly detailed sketches that tell a story all on their own.
Illustrations: 4.5
Story: 4.5
September 11, 2018
"Pool", a gorgeously drawn picture book by JiHyeon Lee, a South Korean children's book author/illustrator, stands out within its genre primarily because it is so beautifully illustrated. Each page is drawn in colored pencils and oil pastels and is like an individual piece of art that could be framed and placed on the walls of an art gallery.
My four-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the book, which has absolutely no writing. Despite the lack of words, she and I still managed to spend a lot of time with it, talking about each picture, figuring out the story from context, wondering what each character was thinking and feeling.
The story is about a little boy who seems shy or nervous about entering the large city pool. Suddenly, swarms of people jump in, and before he knows it, there is hardly any room for him to swim anyway. He sits on the edge and decides to get in. Diving under the masses of swimming bodies, the boy enters another world, where he meets a little girl swimming.
Together, the two children swim deeper, encountering an entire ecosystem of weird underwater animals and plants. (All friendly, of course.)
I can see "Pool" as being a good starting point for a discussion with kids about conquering shyness or a fear of water. It's also a cute conversation piece about introversion and imagination. The wonderful thing about "Pool" is that it can be about anything you can read into it.
My four-year-old daughter was mesmerized by the book, which has absolutely no writing. Despite the lack of words, she and I still managed to spend a lot of time with it, talking about each picture, figuring out the story from context, wondering what each character was thinking and feeling.
The story is about a little boy who seems shy or nervous about entering the large city pool. Suddenly, swarms of people jump in, and before he knows it, there is hardly any room for him to swim anyway. He sits on the edge and decides to get in. Diving under the masses of swimming bodies, the boy enters another world, where he meets a little girl swimming.
Together, the two children swim deeper, encountering an entire ecosystem of weird underwater animals and plants. (All friendly, of course.)
I can see "Pool" as being a good starting point for a discussion with kids about conquering shyness or a fear of water. It's also a cute conversation piece about introversion and imagination. The wonderful thing about "Pool" is that it can be about anything you can read into it.
Read
May 10, 2015Lee Jiheyon's POOL made me smile. It's a cute, whimsical book whose theme of breaking away from the crowd really appealed to me.
Plot Spoiler
I won't say more except that I got caught up in the magical little world they discovered.
Now I sauntered over to amazon and in looking around saw that they suggest the book for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners. Now this book is going to appeal to a wide range of children, but none of mine would have liked it as a preschooler. The artwork is just too subtle and mine always preferred bright colorful pages when they were little. So I'm thinking I would skew this towards the elementary ages, even tweens.
~review copy
Plot Spoiler
I won't say more except that I got caught up in the magical little world they discovered.
Now I sauntered over to amazon and in looking around saw that they suggest the book for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners. Now this book is going to appeal to a wide range of children, but none of mine would have liked it as a preschooler. The artwork is just too subtle and mine always preferred bright colorful pages when they were little. So I'm thinking I would skew this towards the elementary ages, even tweens.
~review copy
August 3, 2017
Sweet. Would be good to read along with a kid (maybe 3-7, I dunno) and have them interpret the images.
February 21, 2023
Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqSus...
March 3, 2021
This wordless picture book is a cute exploration of finding your people. What I really like about wordless books is that the story is different for each reader. The illustrations are lovely, and the color palette is muted in a way I liked.
My video review: https://youtu.be/lPBbWnU2PsA
My video review: https://youtu.be/lPBbWnU2PsA
July 5, 2023
The art style is incredible! And when it comes to a wordless book, this one ranks up high.
The visuals are wonderful and the storytelling technics are very original and beautiful.
The visuals are wonderful and the storytelling technics are very original and beautiful.
August 10, 2015
There is a certain kind of friendship that is wordless, fleeting, transient, yet deep and memorable at the same time. I like to call these “subway friendships.”
If you’ve ever taken a ride on the public transit system of any major urban area, and have done so without having earbuds plugged into your ear or your head buried in a book or in your phone, you have undoubtedly made one or more of these friendships in your lifetime. The pattern is simple: you notice something funny, or interesting, or slightly unique happening on the subway or bus or streetcar, and smile; you quickly realize that someone else in a seat across the way has noticed it too, and you both make the brief eye contact of mutual recognition. Your subway friendship has begun.
In the best of these friendships, you both continue to notice odd or quirky or fascinating things, and you both look to each other each time to see if the other has noticed as well. If she hasn’t, you nod in the direction of the diversion, and she smiles back in thanks. After a few stops, her stop arrives, and you both exchange a quick glance before she exits the doors; it is a recognition of the wordless, fleeting friendship you shared for a few short minutes of the day, but that will linger on for a few more minutes still, if not hours.
Pool, a gorgeously-illustrated book about two shy children who meet at a swimming pool and escape the hubbub of the crowd around them, is basically the story of such a subway friendship, but the setting is instead underwater.
Like a subway friendship, there are no words in the book, but instead a series of adventures and explorations told through JiHyeon Lee’s stunning illustrations. We are encouraged to cherish the silence as we travel through a surreal underwater world with the two new friends, discovering plants and creatures, and enjoying the whimsy that comes from the imagination of children. It is this silence that makes the book so powerful, so resonant: words do not need to be exchanged for the friendship to be forged, and for the exploration to occur.
The underwater friendship in JiHyeon Lee’s Pool captures the best part of a subway friendship: it is fleeting and wordless, but it reminds you that connections can be made anywhere and at any time, and that it is those connections, short-lived as they may be, that bring whimsy and color to our days.
If you’ve ever taken a ride on the public transit system of any major urban area, and have done so without having earbuds plugged into your ear or your head buried in a book or in your phone, you have undoubtedly made one or more of these friendships in your lifetime. The pattern is simple: you notice something funny, or interesting, or slightly unique happening on the subway or bus or streetcar, and smile; you quickly realize that someone else in a seat across the way has noticed it too, and you both make the brief eye contact of mutual recognition. Your subway friendship has begun.
In the best of these friendships, you both continue to notice odd or quirky or fascinating things, and you both look to each other each time to see if the other has noticed as well. If she hasn’t, you nod in the direction of the diversion, and she smiles back in thanks. After a few stops, her stop arrives, and you both exchange a quick glance before she exits the doors; it is a recognition of the wordless, fleeting friendship you shared for a few short minutes of the day, but that will linger on for a few more minutes still, if not hours.
Pool, a gorgeously-illustrated book about two shy children who meet at a swimming pool and escape the hubbub of the crowd around them, is basically the story of such a subway friendship, but the setting is instead underwater.
Like a subway friendship, there are no words in the book, but instead a series of adventures and explorations told through JiHyeon Lee’s stunning illustrations. We are encouraged to cherish the silence as we travel through a surreal underwater world with the two new friends, discovering plants and creatures, and enjoying the whimsy that comes from the imagination of children. It is this silence that makes the book so powerful, so resonant: words do not need to be exchanged for the friendship to be forged, and for the exploration to occur.
The underwater friendship in JiHyeon Lee’s Pool captures the best part of a subway friendship: it is fleeting and wordless, but it reminds you that connections can be made anywhere and at any time, and that it is those connections, short-lived as they may be, that bring whimsy and color to our days.
July 25, 2015
Pool is a wordless picture book that begins with a shy young boy in bathing suit, bathing cap and goggles making his way to the edge of a pool and ready to slide into the cool water. Before that happens, though, a swarm of people rush past him and into the water with a variety of pool toys and suddenly the empty pool is now very crowded.
The boy manages to slide into the water, anyway and dives under the bodies. As he swims around underwater, he meets a shy young girl similarly clad in bathing suit, cap and goggles. The two swimmers begin to explore and play, swimming among all kinds of imaginative schools of fish and other sea creatures. They even play hide and seek among the underwater dwellings of polka dot eel-like sea animals, and diving even deeper into the water, their wordless, magical journey takes them to an enormous white whale.
The two finally surface just as everyone is leaving the pool. As they remove their bathing caps and goggles, it is clear that these two kindred souls will be friends for life after their wonderfully delightful adventure. But, wait, turn to the last page - is that another kindred soul?
Pool is JiHyeon Lee's debut picture book. Originally published in Korea, it is a wordless story that has much to teach the reader about friendship and looking beyond the surface. And yes, friendship can form without even saying a word. The wordlessness also provides a nice compliment to the silence of being underwater (and a nice contrast to the noise you know so many people on the surface are making).
The illustrations are done in colored pencils and oil pastels, skillfully used to convey exactly what Lee wants the reader to know. The first few pages are illustrated in shades of dull grey, except for the light blue of the pool water. Once the two kids are underwater and begin their imaginative play, the images are done in bright lively colors.
Pool is a quiet, gentle story kids will surely want to read and talk about over and over.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Chronicle Books
This review was originally posted on Randomly Reading
The boy manages to slide into the water, anyway and dives under the bodies. As he swims around underwater, he meets a shy young girl similarly clad in bathing suit, cap and goggles. The two swimmers begin to explore and play, swimming among all kinds of imaginative schools of fish and other sea creatures. They even play hide and seek among the underwater dwellings of polka dot eel-like sea animals, and diving even deeper into the water, their wordless, magical journey takes them to an enormous white whale.
The two finally surface just as everyone is leaving the pool. As they remove their bathing caps and goggles, it is clear that these two kindred souls will be friends for life after their wonderfully delightful adventure. But, wait, turn to the last page - is that another kindred soul?
Pool is JiHyeon Lee's debut picture book. Originally published in Korea, it is a wordless story that has much to teach the reader about friendship and looking beyond the surface. And yes, friendship can form without even saying a word. The wordlessness also provides a nice compliment to the silence of being underwater (and a nice contrast to the noise you know so many people on the surface are making).
The illustrations are done in colored pencils and oil pastels, skillfully used to convey exactly what Lee wants the reader to know. The first few pages are illustrated in shades of dull grey, except for the light blue of the pool water. Once the two kids are underwater and begin their imaginative play, the images are done in bright lively colors.
Pool is a quiet, gentle story kids will surely want to read and talk about over and over.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Chronicle Books
This review was originally posted on Randomly Reading
January 14, 2019
Tretíkrát som mala možnosť si túto subtílnosť navnímať – a opäť som sa do nej dokázala okamžite ponoriť. Čo hovorí za všetko.
January 29, 2021
Grāmata, kas lasāma jebkurā pasaules valodā, jo vārdu vietā runā skaistās ilustrācijas. Grāmata tiem, kas vēlas brīvi justies pasaulē! 😌
Caur ilustrācijām vari izsekot līdzi zēnam, kurš atrod lielu, tukšu baseinu. Kamēr viņš to vēro, baseinā jau salēkuši visi citi, un viņam tur pat vairs nav vietas.. Zēns ienirst zem ūdens, kur cilvēku nav, jo visi peldas virspusē. Tur viņš satiek kādu meiteni, un abi kopā nirst arvien dziļāk un dziļāk - rotaļājas dzelmē un sastop dažādas radības, piedzīvo brīnumus, par kuriem tie, kas peldas augšpusē, pat nenojauš...
Liek padomāt - vai ir vērts skriet kopā ar visiem citiem, ja vari piedzīvot un atklāt pats savu pasauli :)
Caur ilustrācijām vari izsekot līdzi zēnam, kurš atrod lielu, tukšu baseinu. Kamēr viņš to vēro, baseinā jau salēkuši visi citi, un viņam tur pat vairs nav vietas.. Zēns ienirst zem ūdens, kur cilvēku nav, jo visi peldas virspusē. Tur viņš satiek kādu meiteni, un abi kopā nirst arvien dziļāk un dziļāk - rotaļājas dzelmē un sastop dažādas radības, piedzīvo brīnumus, par kuriem tie, kas peldas augšpusē, pat nenojauš...
Liek padomāt - vai ir vērts skriet kopā ar visiem citiem, ja vari piedzīvot un atklāt pats savu pasauli :)
June 2, 2023
Dá vontade de mergulhar com eles ❤️
May 5, 2016
Oh, man! This was the best picturebook of the year. Too bad the Caldecott specifically limits itself to American productions. I hope it gets a major international award from the book community (she's already got a great award from the Society of Illustrators).
Lee's imaginary fish are frighteningly insane, Sendakish and Seussian in how they compel and repel at the same time. It was a strange fantasy to follow the two children around just to see what came next. I couldn't help but think they should have been moving back toward the safety of the conventional world instead of delving deeper into this spiky yet cuddly undersea world. But Lee did a great job in the first pages to set up why they wouldn't want to do this. Her use of negative space to set tone in the first pages was brilliant, and the contrast of b/w with color is also striking and significant!
Overall this is a wordless book that demands deep 'reading'. And then she left the ending up to my imagination instead of feeding it to me in a direct drawing--sweet! Using the page borders as ellipsis, she made me infer what happened to the monochrome crowd in the pool. When the story is told completely in visuals, the self-control not to spoon feed all the meaning takes a great understanding of the picturebook as a unique form of sequential art. The last illustration on the back jacket flap was ingenious!
Lee's imaginary fish are frighteningly insane, Sendakish and Seussian in how they compel and repel at the same time. It was a strange fantasy to follow the two children around just to see what came next. I couldn't help but think they should have been moving back toward the safety of the conventional world instead of delving deeper into this spiky yet cuddly undersea world. But Lee did a great job in the first pages to set up why they wouldn't want to do this. Her use of negative space to set tone in the first pages was brilliant, and the contrast of b/w with color is also striking and significant!
Overall this is a wordless book that demands deep 'reading'. And then she left the ending up to my imagination instead of feeding it to me in a direct drawing--sweet! Using the page borders as ellipsis, she made me infer what happened to the monochrome crowd in the pool. When the story is told completely in visuals, the self-control not to spoon feed all the meaning takes a great understanding of the picturebook as a unique form of sequential art. The last illustration on the back jacket flap was ingenious!
March 5, 2016
Wordless Picture Book
Lee, Ji Hyeon. Pool. New York: Chronicle Books, 2015. Print.
As a shy boy hesitates to dive into a pool, a group of adults with enormous rafts and floating devices jump in and fill the pool. He dives in underneath them and meets a girl. They swim underneath and find many unusual fish and sea life ending with a giant, peaceful whale. As they are underneath the water, the colors of the book become vibrant.
This book was a 2015 Nominee for the Cybils Award..
This book could be used in a lesson on making predictions during shared reading. The teacher could stop at the beginning when the girl and boy meet in the bottom of the pool. They could be asked to make a prediction of what will happen next, then stop again before they meet the whale and predict again. The students could then write a new ending. What will the boy and girl do next? Do they remain friends?
It could also be used as a social skill lesson on shyness. Students could write about a time they were shy in a social situation. This book could also be used at the beginning of a writing lesson. Students could write about a time they went to a pool (or a zoo or a park) with a friend and something magical happened.
Lee, Ji Hyeon. Pool. New York: Chronicle Books, 2015. Print.
As a shy boy hesitates to dive into a pool, a group of adults with enormous rafts and floating devices jump in and fill the pool. He dives in underneath them and meets a girl. They swim underneath and find many unusual fish and sea life ending with a giant, peaceful whale. As they are underneath the water, the colors of the book become vibrant.
This book was a 2015 Nominee for the Cybils Award..
This book could be used in a lesson on making predictions during shared reading. The teacher could stop at the beginning when the girl and boy meet in the bottom of the pool. They could be asked to make a prediction of what will happen next, then stop again before they meet the whale and predict again. The students could then write a new ending. What will the boy and girl do next? Do they remain friends?
It could also be used as a social skill lesson on shyness. Students could write about a time they were shy in a social situation. This book could also be used at the beginning of a writing lesson. Students could write about a time they went to a pool (or a zoo or a park) with a friend and something magical happened.
January 20, 2016
Take a long deep breath. There's a lot worth exploring in (the) Pool and an awful lot happening for the boy and girl who take the time to look beneath the surface. Really an exquisite imaginative book. Reading it saves you a trip to the art gallery, though I also love JiHyeon Lee's sensitive treatment of friendship.
Given the number of Asian students in Australian classrooms, I would love see books from Asia better represented in classrooms and on library shelves here. I know translation costs and takes time, however in the interim period I would be happy with any number of wordless texts like Pool where translation is limited to the dust jacket and the ideas are conveyed seamlessly through the images. Pool is certainly in my top ten list of faves this year.
Given the number of Asian students in Australian classrooms, I would love see books from Asia better represented in classrooms and on library shelves here. I know translation costs and takes time, however in the interim period I would be happy with any number of wordless texts like Pool where translation is limited to the dust jacket and the ideas are conveyed seamlessly through the images. Pool is certainly in my top ten list of faves this year.
January 11, 2019
Nádherdné!!! Úžastdntné!!!
July 26, 2015
Beautiful and brilliant. Highly recommend to parents and teachers. There's so much conversation with a young person or a small group of young people that can happen while you read this wordless picture book together. Plenty of space for deep, critical thinking. And then for reading it again and again and again and leave it out for that young person to pick up again. Seriously...I felt like I was eating pie while I was reading this. It's absolutely delightful!!!!
November 14, 2015
oh my god this book is gorgeous. and one of my favorite things: it has no words! I love that! It makes it the perfect book to get for a little kid, since they can enjoy it on their own, have an adult describe their interpretation, or the adult could even make up their own story. This is the kind of book that lasts through many generations.
September 26, 2016
This wordless picture book shows a young boy near the edge of a crowded pool, looking uncertain about entering. But after he summons the courage to dive in, he has quite a fantastical adventure underwater and makes a friend.
I liked this quite a lot...except the faces of the crowd of swimmers (excluding the main characters) are rather unpleasant, even disturbing looking.
I liked this quite a lot...except the faces of the crowd of swimmers (excluding the main characters) are rather unpleasant, even disturbing looking.
May 26, 2015
A wordless picture book that centers on 2 shy children as they gather up the nerve to swim in a community pool and the imaginative adventure they embark upon as a newly formed duo.
Colored pencil and oil pastel illustrations. PreK-2.
Colored pencil and oil pastel illustrations. PreK-2.
April 16, 2015
A magical, fantastical, imaginative wordless picture book. A shy boy enters a crowded pool, and when he dives deep, meets a shy girl swimming who creates colorful worlds under the water with him. Fun illustrations and use of color for effect.
April 1, 2015
Utterly charming! The art is amazing and the story wonderful!
July 27, 2015
A magical story without words.
January 13, 2016
My four year old got a real kick out of the creative fish you see under water. Very interesting wordless picture book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews