McElligot's Pool

Rating:
Summary: McElligot's Pool
Review: As Dr. Seuss books go, this one has a story with both it's feet still firmly rooted on the ground. It is about a young boy who is fishing in a small pool. When an old man tells him that he won't catch anything if he waits 50 years, he imagines that the pool might be joined to an underground river, connected to the sea, where all sorts of wonderful fish live. There is no escaping however that this book is by Dr Seuss. The fish he dreams up are as whimsical as ever anybody has imagined. It is typical Seuss, is he really a Dr. by the way, to imagine a fish that is partly a cow, or an Australian fish with a pouch on it's belly. The pictures, pencil and water colour, are in the same inimitable style as he always uses, however the colours didn't seem to be as vibrant as usual. This may be partly because copy I saw was in poor condition, but some of the pictures were in black and white, which wasn't. The language has the distinctive pattern and rhythm of the Cat in the Hat, or Green Eggs and Ham. The rhymes are not as well crafted as in some of his other work, he sometimes seems to be putting lines in just to make a rhyme. I might see a sea horse (Now mightn't I now) I might see a fish That is partly a cow. This said most of the rhyming is good, and the story is very funny. He uses quite a lot of pronouns and descriptive language as he is creating his fantastical fish. Knowing the story behind Dr. Seuss's first book leads me to think that this may be deliberate. The story seems to peak to a crescendo, although the pictures do not reflect this. The book is about the child's imagination. He is not confined to thinking in the same down to earth terms as the old man. It about hope and optimism. The little boy will keep on trying to fish in Mc Elligot's Pool, because however unlikely, he might just catch the most amazing fish you will ever see. If someone was to make it into a cartoon it would make quite a good lottery advert.

Rating:
Summary: A must for every child.......
Review: I absolutely loved this book as a child. With more than a bit of nostalgia in hand, I purchased McElligot's Pool for my son........he loved it every bit as much as I did.
In my opinion, the other "must-have" Seuss book for children is "I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew"

Rating:
Summary: Belongs in your Seussiary!
Review: I am not sure why this book doesn't get the attention of Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, or the Sneetches. While there isn't an overt ecological or politcal message hidden in these pages, I think the story of a boy who doesn't give up in the face of criticism is a great one!

When I was young, nothing could get my imagination going like this book! I love how Seuss takes the reader through a pond, and underground river, and finally the ocean! And you begin to think, maybe, just maybe he'll catch something after all. (I like to think he did).

Like any good kid's book, McElligot's Pool is not soley based on message. The illustrations here are as diverse and fantastic as anything he did, if a little softer. You know what? I still love this book. I think there's a good chance I'll get more out of the 64 pages in this book then I would out of 800 of the newest fiction of today. Just because an idea is simple doesn't mean it's silly.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Seuss Ever!
Review: I read this energetic, imaginative story to my children, and now I get to read it to my grandchildren - that means all the big and little fish will become alive again! The pictures are big - big with personality - and if anyone thought fish were boring, well, think again. My daughter learned to read on this book, and it was the one book she would "read" to me (by memory) - all I did was turn the pages. This is a hard-to-find Seuss book, and well worth the search.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Seuss Ever!
Review: I read this energetic, imaginative story to my children, and now I get to read it to my grandchildren - that means all the big and little fish will become alive again! The pictures are big - big with personality - and if anyone thought fish were boring, well, think again. My daughter learned to read on this book, and it was the one book she would "read" to me (by memory) - all I did was turn the pages. This is a hard-to-find Seuss book, and well worth the search.

Rating:
Summary: Imagination Plus
Review: McElligot's Pool is a favorite bed time story for my husband and daughters. The places you go in McElligot's Pool are quite fascinating...and of course always entertaining! Both my husband and I remember this story fondly from our childhoods as well. I should mention too, that part of the charm for us is that "McElligott" is our last name. The kids get quite a kick out of seeing such an unusual name in print!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! The book has become difficult to find lately.

Rating:
Summary: Look at all the fish you can catch!
Review: The earlier reviewer is right; who cannot like a book by Dr. Seuss? This classic children's story is about a boy fishing in a small pool and imagining all types of fish that he might catch, most of them quite fanciful. I still remember laughing when I first read it as a child. The book was a 1948 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a children's book.

Rating:
Summary: The Pleasures of Youthful Optimism
Review: This book sets up a contrast between the sour pessimism of an adult farmer and the unbounded optimism of a boy. The farmer finds the boy with his fishing line dangling in a small water-filled crack in the earth.

"You're sort of a fool!

You'll never catch fish

in McElligot's Pool!"

As you can imagine, youngster often take that as a challenge to keep doing what they are doing, and this one certainly did. His fertile imagination soon fills the world with opportunity for good fishing.

"This pool might be bigger

Than you or I know!"

He goes on to imagine that it could connect underground all the way to the sea and contain many varieties of fish (Dog Fish, Catfish, or "even a fish made of strawberry jelly" not to mention one with a pinwheel-like tail, another with fins like a sail, and many many more). The book's core is a series of fantastic fish, each more remarkable than the last. The most exciting one to me is a THING-A-MA-JIGGER (that's much bigger than a whale).

Having thought about all of these fish, the boy ponders,

"Oh, the sea is so full of a number of fish,

If a fellow is patient, he might get his wish!"

But, the boy is still there with the little pool. What else is he thinking? He's actually congratulating himself for being so wise.

"And that's why I think

That I'm not such a fool

When I sit here and fish

In McElligot's Pool!"

That, of course, is the downside of optimism. You can spend a lot of time doing things that make little sense, in hopes they will pan out. Research has shown that optimists vastly outperform pessimists. The difference seems to be that optimists try more things, and some of them work!

I strongly urge you to share this book with your child and anyone else who needs more optimism. The story will be like Dumbo's magic feather in providing confidence to try.

After you and your child have enjoyed this book many times, I suggest that you discuss other ways to encourage appropriate optimism. For example, you can ask other people what has worked well. You can also imagine what perfection would be like and then work backward to how you might capture some of it. In having these conversations, you will be arming your child with many good tools for employing limitless optimism to achieve much more!

Look on the bright side, always!

Rating:
Summary: A must-have - McElligott's Pool!
Review: This was the best Dr. Seuss book of them all! I read this book when I was a little kid and I still read it now! This is the best book you could buy!

Rating:
Summary: I would do anything to read this book when I was 5!
Review: ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
When I was ages 4-7 with constant earaches, and finally needing my tonsils out, this book was the only bribe that would get me to the pediatricians office.( He had a copy in his waiting room)

My kids loved it just as much. Im not sure why it's even more popular than other Dr. Seuss. Perhaps because of the beautifully expanding imaginary depths that the hero imagines lie beneath McElligot's Pool. The delightfully bizarre illustrations of the ever more outrageous fish that might populate this world are mysterious and entrancing. As always, Dr. Seuss is a genius at putting common, and his own invented words together into sentences that sing themselves off the page.

This is a wonderful story for kids 3-7. (Please, don't make them go to the doctor's office to read it) :-)