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Marco

McElligot's Pool

dr. seuss

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Who knows what fantastic fish might swim in McElligot's Pool!

In this colorful picture book, a boy named Marco goes fishing in a small pond called McElligot's Pool. As he sits waiting for a bite, a farmer tells him "You'll never catch fish in McElligot's Pool!" Marco, however, refuses to be discouraged, and thus, the story unfolds.

McElligot's Pool is a Seuss classic from the distant era before even The Cat In The Hat. It's a single poetic variation on the theme of adult skepticism that's no match for childhood faith and daydreaming. Despite the unpromising nature of McElligot's Pool, the boy is all optimism: what if the pool is deeper than anyone thinks? What if it connects to an underground stream that flows under the town to the sea? Might not all sorts of fish then swim up the stream and be caught here? "I might catch an eel... (Well, I might. It depends.) A long twisting eel with a lot of strange bends. And, oddly enough, with a head at both ends!" The moral of the story is straightforward: "If I wait long enough, if I'm patient and cool,/ Who knows what I'll catch in McElligot's pool?"

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12,1947
Series
Marco
Literary awards
caldecott medal, pacific northwest library association young readers choice award, 

This edition

Format
64 pages, Hardcover
Published
September 12, 1947 by Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN
9780394800837
ASIN
0394800834
Language
English

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About the author

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dr. seuss

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Theodor Seuss Geisel was born 2 March 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated Dartmouth College in 1925, and proceeded on to Oxford University with the intent of acquiring a doctorate in literature. At Oxford he met Helen Palmer, who he wed in 1927. He returned from Europe in 1927, and began working for a magazine called Judge, the leading humor magazine in America at the time, submitting both cartoons and humorous articles for them. Additionally, he was submitting cartoons to Life, Vanity Fair and Liberty. In some of his works, he'd made reference to an insecticide called Flit. These references gained notice, and led to a contract to draw comic ads for Flit. This association lasted 17 years, gained him national exposure, and coined the catchphrase "Quick, Henry, the Flit!"

In 1936 on the way to a vacation in Europe, listening to the rhythm of the ship's engines, he came up with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was then promptly rejected by the first 43 publishers he showed it to. Eventually in 1937 a friend published the book for him, and it went on to at least moderate success.

During World War II, Geisel joined the army and was sent to Hollywood. Captain Geisel would write for Frank Capra's Signal Corps Unit (for which he won the Legion of Merit) and do documentaries (he won Oscar's for Hitler Lives and Design for Death). He also created a cartoon called Gerald McBoing-Boing which also won him an Oscar.

In May of 1954, Life published a report concerning illiteracy among school children. The report said, among other things, that children were having trouble to read because their books were boring. This inspired Geisel's publisher, and prompted him to send Geisel a list of 400 words he felt were important, asked him to cut the list to 250 words (the publishers idea of how many words at one time a first grader could absorb), and write a book. Nine months later, Geisel, using 220 of the words given to him published The Cat in the Hat, which went on to instant success.

In 1960 Bennett Cerf bet Geisel $50 that he couldn't write an entire book using only fifty words. The result was Green Eggs and Ham. Cerf never paid the $50 from the bet.

Helen Palmer Geisel died in 1967. Theodor Geisel married Audrey Stone Diamond in 1968. Theodor Seuss Geisel died 24 September 1991.

Also worked under the pen name: Theo Le Sieg

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
35(35%)
4 stars
31(31%)
3 stars
34(34%)
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Miyuki-
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Oh, how much fun was this book! I loved that the little boy listened to the advice of the adult, but then came up with several possibilities that even an adult could not logically dispute. I loved how Dr. Seuss used the black and white (reality) illustrations and the colored (imagination) illustrations to demonstrate their interchangeability. I also loved that because of this juxtaposition, whose to say that our "reality" isn't just our imagination come to life? This is a great story of the possibilities that await you if you are patient and believe that anything is possible. Great story for children!
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LeoTheTree
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This was my favorite Dr. Seuss book as a kid. I loved all the things the fishing boy might possibly catch in McElligot's Pool. The imagination is great - also the hope of possibility. When I finished reading it to my mentee, he said, "But it doesn't say if he catches anything!" I told him that was great, because the reader gets to decide the outcome of the book. Until reading Seuss's books more recently as an adult, I'd no idea the hidden depth in what seemed to be meaningless, fun-sounding, inventive rhymes when I was a child.
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T-Imarudi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is the third discontinued Seuss book that I was able to get from my library. It is another that I don't recall from childhood.

Marco's imagination runs wild again! Marco was first seen in the first book, "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street." The rhymes are much better in this one but there are a few clunkers. There's 10 years between the two books. I enjoyed

Now for the "offensive" bit that got it knocked off the publishing table...
There are a few locations and people drawn in approximate style of the locations, but to me (not a professional) they don't look atypical or insensitive. A quick internet search shows that while Seuss enterprises doesn't specify why, most agree it is the use of "Eskimo." There are "Eskimo Fish" with furry manes like a fur-rimmed hood. There is also a spearman in a furry winter suit in front of an igloo. Eskimo is now considered insensitive to some groups. The book's reference is towards the fish, not a human and the book was published in 1947.  

Out of the 3 discontinued books I've been able to read, this one is the least egregious and probably not even gregious. At least to me, this is not enough to discontinue a book written 74 years ago.

Remember: the books were not banned. They were only discontinued from further publishing. You may have words with anyone actually banning them (preventing people from reading an existing copy), but do not claim that they have been banned.
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RisingGalaxy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I like this story and exploration and imagination of variety of fishes are enjoyable. It let kids to believe in countless possibilities and that’s great. Just right amount of inspiration for adults too. 4.5 statrs.
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jigga69000
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I think this Seuss book is one of the easiest ones for me to connect with because all of the nonsense words and ideas come from a boy’s imagination as he sits by the pool trying to convince an adult that fishing there isn’t foolish. Other Seuss books seem to take place within fantasy worlds where things like sneetches and wockets just roam free and should be taken for granted. But in this book, it’s a child who comes up with the strange ideas, which really speaks to the power and importance of imagination. I also like its similarities to stories like The Carrot Seed, where naysaying adults are proven wrong by the beliefs and perseverance of a child.
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subdee
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I spent hours looking at this book as a kid and all the amazing things this kid thought of down in the pool. I was especially enamored of the flower fish and her hair!
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Lea89
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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“McElligot’s Pool” is one of Dr. Seuss’ earlier books and it is about how a young boy explains to an old man how he imagines that there will be millions of fish of different shapes and colors in McElligot’s Pool. “McElligot’s Pool” may be a bit behind for today’s kids, but it is truly a creative book that started up Dr. Seuss’ popular line of rhyming books.

Dr. Seuss’ illustrations are truly creative as the fishes are shown in many different colors and shapes, especially when the boy starts describing about the cat fishes in the water and the images of the cat fish are truly hilarious as the cat fish have cat heads and fish bodies and also the image of the fish with the checkerboard belly is also hilarious as the fish literally has a checkerboard belly. Also, the images in the book are structured where two pages of the book have colored images while the next two pages are in black and white which was similar to some of the “Madeline” books. Dr. Seuss’ story is extremely creative and full of optimism as the boy believes that fish will come to McElligot’s Pool no matter what the old man said which will give many children a good impression that anything is possible if you believe in it. Also, the way that the boy describes each fish in McElligot’s Pool in a creative way such as mentioning a cat fish, a stout fish, and a fish that rides on skis and many children will love the wacky mentioning of each fish.

Some smaller children might think that this book is a bit too old-fashioned since it was one of Dr. Seuss’ earlier books and the images are a bit outdated since some of the images are in black and white and the images are not brightly colored like Dr. Seuss’ later books are. Also, this book is a bit lengthier than Dr. Seuss’s later books and many small children might lose interest in a book that is too long for their liking.

“McElligot’s Pool” is a very creative book about the power of using your imagination and anything would be possible. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate about this book, but smaller children might be a little bored with this book since it is a bit too outdated but it all depends on your child if he or she likes outdated books.
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