The Whale in My Swimming Pool

by Joyce Wan

Overview

One sunny day, a little boy heads outside for a swim, but his pool is already taken . . . There's a big whale in the water and it's not budging! The boy tries everything to get the whale to leave. Nothing seems to work. Not fetch. Not tag. Not even offering his allowance. What's a boy to do? Luckily, he comes up with the perfect solution: he decides to chill out on a spray of water over the whale's spout.

This colorful whale of a tale from the talented Joyce Wan is sure to inspire giggles from little guppies!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466893573
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	04/07/2015
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

Joyce Wan is the author and illustrator of many popular board books, including You Are My Cupcake and We Belong Together. She is also the illustrator of Sandra J. Howett's Sleepyheads. Joyce lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Wan's book imagines the pool as property over which a child feels ownership—and explores the whale-size challenges of sharing space and toys, for little ones…Her curvilinear and comforting style recalls Hello Kitty and other Japanese pop art in its fat dark lines and squat characters, but the hero has an antic physicality and a wide range of emotional expressions. [Wan's] world feels safe and joyful, even as the hero experiences anger and frustration.

The New York Times Book Review - Emily Jenkins

Large, colorful illustrations set against ample space make this appropriate for group sharing...droll touches, such as the shark in the neighbor's pool, keep it fun.” —School Library Journal

“Using an adorably chunky kawaii aesthetic that fans of her previous books will recognize, Wan (Sleepyheads) serves up a whale-size dilemma... Wan's comedic sensibilities shine as the boy tries various methods to remove the whale, which maintains a state of unruffled serenity... A compromise lets everyone win, while a zinger ending suggests the boy's animal problems are only beginning. Wan's cuddly, candid world is the sort that readers will want to step into again and again.” —Publishers Weekly

“Wan's curvilinear and comforting style recalls Hello Kitty and other Japanese pop art in its fat dark lines and squat characters, but the hero has an antic physicality and a wide range of emotional expressions. Her world feels safe and joyful, even as the hero experiences anger and frustration.” —Emily Jenkins, The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

2014-12-22
A little boy of pleasingly indeterminate ethnicity goes out to his little backyard inflatable pool to find a whale in it. It's a very large, round, blue whale, which is kind of squished on top of the pool. It is way, way too big for it. Mom is reading and does not see the whale. The boy tries persuasion, counting to 10, enticing the whale into a game of fetch, even offering his allowance, but the whale does not budge. He even offers his neighbor's much larger in-ground swimming pool (alert young readers will note the dorsal fin visible in the neighbor's clear blue waters). Finally, he puts his floatie on top of the whale's spout, just in time to hear Mom call naptime. That presents its own set of problems: not the toys and socks that are strewn about the bedroom floor, but the snoring occupant of his bed—a large bear with its own teddy. The front endpapers show the blue whale in various positions on the wading pool, the back endpapers show the bear tossing and turning and snoring, all the while clinging to that teddy. All the art is drawn in thick strong line and flat color, simple and accessible. The text comprises the boy's play-by-play narration of the events, including an endearingly believable whine to his oblivious mother. Both very silly and very appealing. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews