Parents' Guide to

Our Pool

By Susan Faust, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

A joyful ode to summer, swimming, family, and community.

Book Lucy Ruth Cummins Picture Book 2023
Our Pool book cover: Small figures of children in colorful swimsuits floating in a turquoise blue swimming pool

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What's the Story?

In OUR POOL, a child describes an outing to a public swimming pool. The pool is in a diverse, city neighborhood. The hot day unfolds from morning to night -- changing in the locker room, lathering up with sun block, getting into the cool water, paddling around with Mom, watching other swimmers, playing Marco Polo, having lunch, going back in the water, doing a cannonball, toweling off, getting an ice cream, and finally returning home, tired and happy and ready to rest.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

An idyllic day at an urban, public swimming pool is detailed with lovely specificity in this joyful ode to the simple pleasures of summer, swimming, family, and community. In Our Pool, the child narrator notices everything -- how on dry land, kids get ready for sun, water, and lunch, how in the cool pool, they float, splash, and dive. Adults care for children, and children appreciate the care. The multi-media art follows the sequence of events and amplifies the mood -- one of buoyant expectation and fun. Complementing the artful text are many striking compositions -- kids afloat in the pool and a row of feet visible from a group handstand. Diversity and community are intertwined in this charming picture book about an ordinary summer day.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Our Pool and discuss the narrator who, during the day, is curious and adventurous, meeting challenges with courage. How do you feel in a swimming pool?

  • Do you know how to swim? If so, how and when did you learn? What was the easiest thing to learn? What was the hardest? If not, do you want to learn? What do you think it will be like?

  • Do the illustrations in this book make you feel like "summer?" What is your favorite part of summer?

Book Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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