Current:Home > MarketsBefore summer ends, let's squeeze in one last trip to 'Our Pool'-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Before summer ends, let's squeeze in one last trip to 'Our Pool'
View Date:2025-01-11 03:19:39
How do you get into the pool? Are you the "jump-right-in" type? Or the "one-toe-at-a-time" type? We're closing out the summer with Our Pool — a joyful, colorful, picture book ode to the rituals of the neighborhood pool — the "cachunk" of the lockers, the sliminess of the sunblock, the splash of the cannonballs.
Author and illustrator Lucy Cummins loves to take her son swimming and their perfect pool days inspired this book. "Nate and I had had a particularly great day," Cummins recalls. "He made friends in the pool. It's so interesting to watch children just kind of make those connections, even if they're just for that day."
Nate is 8 now, and he still loves to lock his arms around his mom's neck and "float behind her like a cape." Cummins' illustration shows a parade of kids hanging onto their grownups winding through pool. She spells out "big m o o n m a n steps" to slow readers down, giving them the feeling of being dragged through the water.
The New York City pool in Cummins' book is a bustling, diverse, neighborhood space. "I'm telling the story of a day with Nate and I at the pool," Cummins says, but any of these kids could be the book's narrator — and that's on purpose. "I hope it comes across that it's kind of the day anyone can have — and that we're all having," she says.
Universal experiences and shared spaces are part of the magic of city living. When Cummins became a parent in New York City she began to appreciate "how the community is shaped around bringing people together — like libraries and playgrounds and public parks and public swimming pools. I've had so many friendships that have started just kind of incidentally, through interactions that my kids have initiated."
Cummins made the art for Our Pool in 2019. By the time she was writing the text it was the middle of the pandemic and the pool was closed.
"I went from having a very open world and a very connected experience of living in a city alongside other parents, and suddenly that all closed in," she recalls.
Cummins brought the book to her editor not knowing if she would ever swim in a public pool again. "It was really putting a wish into the universe, especially as a parent." She's so grateful that wish came true.
veryGood! (24)
Related
- Inside Dream Kardashian's Sporty 8th Birthday Party
- Disney plans to hike streaming prices, join Netflix in crack down on subscription sharing
- Last of 6 men convicted in Wisconsin paper mill death granted parole
- Mastering the Art of Capital Allocation with the Market Whisperer, Kenny Anderson
- Mega Millions winning numbers for November 8 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
- AP-Week in Pictures: Aug. 3 - Aug. 10, 2023
- From Astronomy to Blockchain: The Journey of James Williams, the Crypto Visionary
- Maui fires kill dozens, force hundreds to evacuate as Biden approves disaster declaration
- Armie Hammer Says His Mom Gifted Him a Vasectomy for His 38th Birthday
- Teen Social Media Star Lil Tay Confirms She's Alive And Not Dead After Hoax
Ranking
- 2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
- How to help or donate in response to the deadly wildfire in Maui
- Instacart now accepting SNAP benefits for online shopping in all 50 states
- As new school term begins, Kentucky governor points to progress with school safety efforts
- Tesla issues 6th Cybertruck recall this year, with over 2,400 vehicles affected
- Coal miners plead with feds for stronger enforcement during emotional hearing on black lung rule
- Foundations seek to advance AI for good — and also protect the world from its threats
- Collin Morikawa has roots in Lahaina. He’s pledging $1,000 per birdie for Hawaii fires relief
Recommendation
-
My Chemical Romance will perform 'The Black Parade' in full during 2025 tour: See dates
-
Suspended NASCAR Cup driver Noah Gragson asks for release from Legacy Motor Club
-
Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US
-
John Anderson: The Rise of a Wealth Architect
-
Can't afford a home? Why becoming a landlord might be the best way to 'house hack.'
-
Viola Davis Has an Entirely Charming Love Story That You Should Know
-
Mary Cosby Makes Epic Return in Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4 Trailer
-
Striking screenwriters will resume negotiations with studios on Friday