Rosemary Wells gets kids in a way that is not precious or dogmatic. She genuinely understands the way kids think and what makes them tick and she is able to translate this, through her art and her words, into wonderful, timeless picture books in the same way that Kevin Henkes is able to capture the import and essence of childhood experiences and convey those emotions in a universal way.
While Betsy Bird calls Sonya Hartnett and Ann James' Sadie and Ratz weird and like nothing else on the shelf, she also says that "it happens to be pretty much the best book for kids published in America in the year 2012." This children's librarian and book reviewer reads (and has read) lots of kids books and she said this about Sadie and Ratz a mere four months into the year. While this is
*Picture book for preschoolers through first graders
*Young male fish as main character
*Rating: The Pout-Pout Fish will soon become one of your family’s or classroom’s favorites. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, too!
Short, short summary:
The pout-pout fish has a pout-pout face and is always down in the dumps in the ocean. Several happy sea creatures come by to offer some positive words of wisdom, so Mr. Fish will turn that frown upside down. But each time he explains that he is a pout-pout fish and he spreads the “dreary-wearies.” Readers will think there is no hope for Mr. Fish until a silent silver shimmer fish comes by and gives Mr. Fish a big old SMOOCH! This turns the pout-pout fish into a kiss-kiss fish!
So what do I do with this book?
1. This is a great book to talk about emotions and feelings! Why is Mr. Fish pouting? Is he sad or just stuck in a rut? Children can compare themselves to the creatures in the book and talk about when they’ve felt similar ways.
2. Have fun reading this book aloud! Do some echo reading–maybe even let children pretend to be different parts from the book–almost like reader’s theatre.
3. Pictures tell a lot of this story. Challenge students to tell a short story using only illustrations. Partner students up and have them trade their picture stories with each other.
Tune in Thursday for a picture book giveaway about a mouse violinist!
