Common Sense Note
The bouncy rhyming text and funny pictures of fantastic fish keep children interested. Adult art lovers appreciate the dreamy watercolor illustrations in nostalgic 1940s colors.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Robyn Raymer
This is among the most beautiful of Dr. Seuss's books. In lovingly painted watercolors, he renders underwater scenes in swirling blues, grays, and greens, and in one two-page picture, a lovely little city of pastel buildings and telephone poles nestles among rolling green hills beside a blue-gray ocean. Beneath the city, the sea flows in a subterranean channel straight to McElligot's Pool (for literate fish, there's a handy sign pointing the way).
Despite its beauty, MCELLIGOT'S POOL is a little flat compared to other Dr. Seuss books. Apart from the farmer's good-natured jeers, the story contains little conflict. No villain such as the one in How the Grinch Stole Christmas appears, nor is there even a naughty hero such as the title character in The Cat in the Hat.
Another reason for the comparative lack of vitality might be that Dr. Seuss's invented creatures still resemble real ones. While Scrambled Eggs Super! is crowded with fanciful feathered Kwongs, Kwiggers, Ziffs, and Zuffs, most of the fish bound for McElligot's Pool look like dogs, cats, roosters, and kangaroos.
When he wrote this book, Dr. Seuss was clearly still on his way to becoming the unrestrained inventor he later became. His language, too, was still in development. In this book, his wordplay has not yet reached the exuberant pitch it later achieved.
A kindergarten reading audience enjoyed identifying the animals that the various fish look like. After reading they illustrated and wrote about their own versions. One wrote, for example, "I wish I could see a french-fry fish."
Plot Summary:
Imaginative Marco fishes patiently in McElligot's Pool, a cow pond with a lot of potential. The boy believes an underground brook connects McElligot's Pool with the sea. Via this route, he explains to a skeptical farmer, countless fantastic, finny creatures are sure to find their way to Marco's hook. Lovely watercolor illustrations earned Dr. Seuss his first Caldecott Honor Award.
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Social BehaviorPeople and fish from faraway places are stereotyped. People have thrown trash into McElligot's Pool. |
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