Down by the Cool of the Pool

by Tony Mitton

Join sprightly Frog and his energetic farmyard friends frolicking down by the cool of the pool - flipping and flopping, splishing and splashing, stomping and stamping in the watery wonderland. A wacky, rhyming text with lots of noises for joining in, and zany illustrations too.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Friendship, Summer

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frog says "Wheee! Can you dance like me? Down by the cool of the pool." Soon different animals are flapping, wiggling, stamping and many other kinds of dancing down by the cool of the pool.

I loved the vibrant illustrations. The faces are so expressive on the different barnyard animals. The text is lively with moving words like stamp, wiggle, flap, frisking, skip and hop. Young children will want to mimic the dancing animals and follow along with the frog.

[Hlee Moua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading this books to my children. Reason is that because this book hold great excitement for the children in class. They mimic what the farm animals are doing and also this book has a wide variety of rhyming words. The illustration of the book was very colorful and vibrant, it also hold the children's attention.

[Ten_zillions · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fun and spirited book for children (and even adults)! I love how the characters are introduced which make it easy to turn it into an interactive experience for listeners. The writer uses colorful illustrations and repetitive phrases making it easy for young children to predict the next line and capturing young children's attention. He also gives the characters interesting personalities and movements making it easy for teachers to create music and movement activities; my favorite being the frog. This is my first time reading this story and I absolutely loved it! I will definitely add this to my own children's book library.

[Amy Buthelezi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fascinating and fun for young children. I love how the illustrations of animals are comical and lively. I also love the onomatopoeia, personification, and rhyming in this book. This story also contains repetitive phrases which help build a child's listening and comprehension skills as he or she tries to predict the lines they think will come next.

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book creates excitement for young children, teaches repetition phrases, rhyming words, and it also allows teachers to encourage children to dance in their own way.

[Dmitry Sedor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to dance

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining cumulative tale about animals taking time to cool off in the heat. The rhyming, rhythmic narrative is fun to read aloud and children will really enjoy the cartoonish illustrations and the onomatopoeia throughout.

[Katja · Rating 5 out of 5]

My three year old is obsessed with this book and requests it every day, which took me by surprise, I though it was fine, but he really loves it. I think the vibrant colors and action packed splash scenes really resonate with his adventurous nature. Five stars from him. 3.5 from me, the rhymes / not rhymes feel a bit disjointed to me, although I appreciate the fun artwork.

[Cassie Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun and can get children moving. The pictures are bright and bold and the words are neat.

[Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book demonstrates movement. Great book to use in the classroom as a movement activity. Also identifies many animals.

[Diana Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book for my Picture Book of the Day...I love the cadence and the student participation...

[Jonathan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for music and movement children can learn about different animals, sounds they make and be silly and creative in dance.

[Zachery L]

the book was really good it was about a frog that was down by a pond and met all differnt kind of animals and they made good friends with each other.

[Rosaira Quinonez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think that this book has a really cute way to show to children that all people do the same things in a different way and that does not make you weird or different, that makes you unique and special to others.

[Carmen Revilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written with adorable rhyme and colorful illustrations for young children. This story helps children to develop their memory of the kids through the repetition and rhyme of the words.

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, interactive read.

[Mariela Alfaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary
This book is a frog who starts dancing by the pool and them one by one different animals start dancing along. They can all dance but in different ways. However when they start dancing all together they bump into each other and fall in the pool where they once again start dancing until the sun sets away.

Major Theme
Friendship and Differences

Personal Response
I really liked this book because even though each animal admitted they couldn't dance like the other they still dance however they could. Furthermore, every animal was very proud of how they dance and danced happily with the rest. Illustrations use very vivid colors and demonstrate how happy the animals are. Also, the sizes, fonts and position of the text are playful which match both the rhyming of the words and the animals actions.

Recommendation
I really recommend this book because of the way it uses onomatopoeias to portray the animals dance moves it can be a fun way to learn about figurative language. Together with the rhythm presented throughout the book. Illustrations are also very vivid and detailed.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about barnyard animals who all dance differently. It begins with Frog who jumps wildly, crying "Wheeee!" He then asks his friends to dance with him, but they dance differently than he does. It adds on each animal as the pages continue, rhyming along the way, till the end of the story when the animals all land in the pool.

I liked this story for the basic pictures and bright colors, but also for the storyline. I appreciate that all the animals were accepting of each other. The idea that everyone can be included is one, I believe, we need to reiterate over and over with young children.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the other animals follow the lead of a frog who urges them to head down to the pool to frolic in the water. The story uses repetitive lines as each of the animals takes a dip in the pond. They stay there until the sun goes down and things start to get cool and dark. After being so crowded, the pond is vacated by everyone at the end of the day--even frog. Brightly-colored illustrations and great word choice makes this one a delight to read independently or share with others. Plus, there are questions and activities to support the readng.

[Alexis Tesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the animals living by the pond make their way down to the pool to cool off. The characters rhyme and dance their own moves down to the pool, in which they all meet up. The illustrations in this book are what initially intrigued me to this book as a child, and was easy to read because of the continual pattern of rhymes throughout the book, which is why I gave this book 5 stars. The theme of this book is community and the fun you can have with people even if they are different than you.

Genre: Picture Book
Ages: 2nd-4th

[Jackie Sisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down By the Cool of the Pool is a book about likes to dance and invites all the animals of the barnyard to join him. This book is so fun and silly! The illustrations are colorful and bright. They really draw attention to the story! Thy rhyme scheme and reputation make the book engaging and easy for children to read along with. Aspects of physical development can easily be tied in by dancing like the animals do or dancing in your own way. This is a great book to read with a child who is learning about barnyard animals or farms!

[Amelia Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lively, fun spirited book with examples of onomatopoeia, personification and rhyming. The book is expressive of different animals using excellent choices of vocabulary – “frisking”, “bound”. The illustrations in the book are great and can really engage the learner, as can the shape of the text. Further, repeated phrases are used which can enhance engagement and encourage listening and memory skills and even some participation. The common theme throughout the book are friendship and differences. This book would be most suitable for KS1 pupils.

[Sierra Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect for early learners! I read it for the preschool storytime my library puts on, and it held the children’s attention surprisingly well. When choosing storytime books for very young children, it’s important to have a book with a lot of fun and vibrant colors and something that has large print and isn’t overly wordy. It’s an added bonus if it has a pleasing rhythmic/lyrical structure like this one. I don’t usually review all the children’s books I read at work, but I found this one to be mentionable. And I’m bored waiting for a doctor to see me. 😅

[Kalynne]

Date: 03.01.24
Attendees: 64
Theme: Music and Rhyme

Introduction and announcements: My Hand Say Hello

Book one: Down by the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton

Song/rhyme/game one: Down by the Bay (with Tambourines)

Book two: Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen

Song/rhyme/game two: List of Dances by Jim Gill

Book three: I know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello by Barbra S. Garriel

Song/ rhyme/ game three: Play on Your Instruments by Judi Cranston

Activity: Free Play and Musical coloring sheets

[Betul Kilinc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very fun music sing-along story with colorful and fun pictures. This book would be great for introducing new animals to young children and getting them moving and dancing as the animals in the story dance by the cool of the pool. I would have some music playing in the background and maybe a blue carpet to simulate a pool and have the children act out the moves of the animals as I read the story in a small or large group.

[Sterlande Altidor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love this book. This book is funny especially when the person was doing the animals motions. The illustrations in this book are colored, festive, realistic, and the story is simple and great. The language in the book is fun; I think that preschoolers will love this book. This book is very colorful and it would be a good book to do a read aloud for children. It’s a book that you can read over and over again to children to get them interesting.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so much fun but needs to be done with the right energy. Having all the different animals doing a dance that fit them makes it better because every one is different. This book is full of onomatopoeia's and descriptive words. It also adds those position words when they move from BY the pool to IN the pool so IN is bold in the book. I would use this book when talking about the farm. It has a good amount of farm animals and silly and fun.

[Gina Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE the illustrations in this book! They are so bright and fun! A child will never get bored with this book or an adult for that matter. It is full of extension activities and discussions for the child and reader. The rhythm at the beginning is a little tricky, but picks up by the end of the book. I do enjoy how the sun sets down by cool of the pool helping children to prepare for bedtime. Yeah!

[Kaleb Beaulieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for gross motor skills, and for incorporating various movement types in the classroom. As each animal is introduced, children can demonstrate how they move, or their favourite movement included in the book. It's fun rhyming scheme and bright illustrations ensure engagement, and it relates to children by appealing to their individuality- especially during activities like dancing.

[Cassie Rudolph]

"Down By The Cool of the Pool" is an upbeat, quick read. It almost makes you want to start moving when you're reading it. The author does a great job of putting in great detail and making the reader feel like they're part of the story. I love how each animal has their own "dance." This book could be used for so many lessons in a younger-aged classroom. You could make each student be a different animal and that student has to dance like that animal.