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Welcome to our OOL
No Pea in the Pool follows a sweet little pea who is ready for a day of swimming with her friends when she realizes she forgot one very important thing before leaving home: going potty! What was the inspiration for your story?
It took me over a decade to write this book, get it illustrated, publish it, and put it out into the world… and it all started when I was on tour as a songwriter and decided to go swimming at a hotel we were staying at while on the road.
As I was walking toward the chairs to set my towel down, I noticed a sign that read:
“Welcome to our OOL. Please leave the P out of it!”
It’s a good thing no one else was on the pool deck because I burst out laughing. It was hilarious!
Afterward, I was telling my husband about the sign, but just thinking about it cracked me up again, and he couldn’t understand a word I was saying. In between giggles, I finally got it out: “The sign says OOL, so there’s no P in the Pool.”
That’s when it hit me. I saw the character so clearly in my mind.
What if it hadn’t been the letter P… but an adorable little pea who wanted to go swimming? What if there was some reason this pea couldn’t go in the pool?
That was the moment NO PEA IN THE POOL was born.
When I started working on it, I used my songwriting background to create my children’s book in a lyrical, rhyming style.
What do you think makes humor such an effective way to introduce practical lessons to young children?
When stories are fun to read, kids revisit those books again and again… and repetition is an incredible teacher.
When I was little, I re-read my favorite bedtime stories so often that I had them all memorized. Decades later, I can still recite many of them to this day.
But there’s something even deeper than that….
As a reader myself (and as a novelist), I gravitate toward books where the lesson is a natural, inevitable result of the journey the characters went on. Story is my number one focus, always!
For my children’s books, I want the experience to feel like: “Hey, we just had a lot of fun and made new friends… and wow, we learned something, too!”
The illustrations contain jokes and details beyond the words themselves. How did you approach making the pictures another part of the humor?
My illustrator and I had a blast with all the tiny details! One of my favorite moments is when Pea sees the Dalmatian peeing on the hydrant and realizes that isn’t an option for her. Also, the onion crying! I knew I wanted a character to slip and fall with Rule #1: No Running. That background character could have been anything – a banana could have been cute… but the idea of an onion crying felt like the more unique, funny visual choice.
The fun is in the details, quite literally! Look at the sunscreen bottle, it says S-PEA-F! And on the back cover above the barcode, it says MSR-PEA.
One visual joke also solved a practical problem: in a world of fruit and veggie houses, what structure is a public restroom? I knew that making it another fruit or veggie just didn’t feel right. When I came up with the concept for a watering can, I felt that was both funny and perfect for the setting. And my illustrator executed it perfectly!!
It’s not just humor, there’s foreshadowing in the illustrations, too. Notice the picture on the easel in Sweet Pea’s room? She drew a Dalmatian! Then we meet the dog a few pages later. It’s such a tiny detail you could easily miss, but it adds to the richness of the world. The family photos in her living room are another clue: we’ll meet all of those characters in stories to come.
Could Sweet Pea, the Spelling Bee, or the other characters return for another adventure?
Absolutely! My illustrator and I are currently finishing book #2 in the series, THE PRINCESS IS THE PEA, which stars Sweet Pea as Princess Pea. After that, we’ll release PEA-B-J, featuring Sweet Pea’s twin brother, Pete Pea. (Look closely at Sweet Pea’s bedroom in NO PEA IN THE POOL… she drew a picture of her brother there, too!)
Right now on my website, PlanetPea.com, you can meet several of the characters, find out their hobbies, and discover which books each will appear in. And best of all… the experience is interactive!
Play a spelling game with the Spelling Bee. Complete a maze to help Pea, Carrot, and Apple find their way to a pool, or download printable pictures of your favorite characters to color at home. All of it is 100% free and promotes learning and creativity through fun!
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Facebook | Free Coloring Pages | Games | Pea-Mail – Substack | Website
Should Sweet Pea… pee in the pool?
NO PEA IN THE POOL is a rhyming picture book perfect for ages 3 to 6 sure to make a splash at storytime! With cheerful illustrations, lovable characters, and a story made for giggles, NO PEA IN THE POOL is a delightful read-aloud little ones will want to dive into again and again.
No Pea in the Pool
No Pea in the Pool by Candice Jarrett is a playful children’s book that turns a basic pool rule into a funny lesson about bathroom habits, safety, and spelling. Sweet Pea is invited to go swimming with her friends, and in her excitement she rushes out with her towel and floaty ring after getting covered in sunscreen. On the walk to the pool, she suddenly realizes she forgot something important: she needed to use the bathroom before leaving home. That small problem gives the story an easy-to-follow plot and creates just enough tension for young readers to wonder whether Sweet Pea will make it in time.
The book has a strong read-aloud quality, with rhymes, repeated sounds, and short lines that keep the story moving. One of its funniest ideas comes from the pool rules. When the lifeguard announces “No pea in the pool,” the Spelling Bee arrives to explain that pea and pee mean very different things. That wordplay gives the story an educational layer without pulling attention away from the action. The book also works in straightforward pool-safety reminders about running and diving, so the humor sits alongside practical information children can actually use.
The pages are packed with bright colors, oversized expressions, and vegetable characters who look cheerful and animated. Sweet Pea’s big eyes and changing expressions make her feelings especially easy to read, from excitement at being invited to swim to panic when she realizes she has to go potty. The settings are imaginative too, with produce-shaped houses, sunny neighborhood paths, and a lively pool full of colorful characters. The illustrations often carry jokes of their own, and details such as the misspelled pool sign and the Spelling Bee’s chalkboards help make the language lesson visual as well as verbal.
By the end, Sweet Pea finds the restroom, makes it to the toilet in time, and gets to enjoy the pool with her friends. The closing message, “A pool is not a toilet. Let’s all keep it that way,” sums up the book’s purpose in language young children can understand. No Pea in the Pool is built around a silly situation children are likely to remember, but it also gives parents and teachers an easy way to talk about bathroom etiquette, pool safety, and simple spelling differences. The combination of rhyme, visual humor, and a very concrete lesson makes it well suited to preschool and early elementary readers, especially as a read-aloud before a trip to the pool.
Page: 35 | ASIN : B0GX378NHD
