DOWN BY THE COOL OF THE POOL

A wacky romp of a tale, full of simple and buoyant verse and accompanied by electrically jazzy artwork, of a barnyard of creatures cutting it up down by the old waterhole. A jiving frog wants to know who can dance like him, and pretty much each animal on the farm takes up his offer. “I can dance too. / But not like you. / I can flap,” says the duck. The pig also displays some fancy footwork, as does the sheep and the dog and the cat and a company of others. After each animal shows their moves, there is a cumulative run through of all those that went before. Finally they all roll—“With a bump and a slip / and a trip and a crash / and a ‘Whoops! Watch out!’ / and a topple and a splash”—in a tumble down into the cool of the pool where they keep up the frugging until a sunset worthy of Peter Maxx encourages them to rest their feet. The text is as bouncy as the critters, swooping up and down and highlighting the “flap,” the “wiggle,” the “stamp,” and the “Wheeee!” A slice of tomfoolery, suitable to be read as a song, giving the action the kind of chipper and carefree spin it begs for. (Picture book. 2-5)