The Pout-Pout Fish and the Bully-Bully Shark

by Deborah Diesen, Dan Hanna (Illustrator)

Overview

Mr. Fish and all his friends
Love to play down at the park.
But that ends when they’re bullied
By a misbehaving shark!

Mr. Fish wants to help.
He knows bullying is wrong!
But he’s just one fish—
Is he really that strong?

In this board book conversion of the jacketed hardcover, the New York Times–bestselling Pout-Pout Fish teaches a bully shark about kindness and being a friend. Swim along as he discovers the strength of his community, and the power of his own voice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374312220
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Series:	Pout-Pout Fish Adventure Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	210,370
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	1 - 4 Years

About the Author

Deborah Diesen currently works for a small nonprofit organization and has also worked as a reference librarian and a bookseller. Her first book, The Pout-Pout Fish, also illustrated by Dan Hanna, was a New York Times bestseller and a TIME magazine Top 10 Book of the Year. She lives in Michigan with her family.

Dan Hanna has over ten years' experience in the animation industry, and his work has appeared on BBC America and the Cartoon Network. He lives in Camarillo, California.

Editorial Reviews

2017-06-14
Mr. Fish and his friends find their spines (well, maybe not the octopus or the squid…) when dealing with a shark. Tummy Tickle Park is the stuff of children's dreams: swings, monkey bars, a phenomenal slide—and one mean bully of a shark. This meanie repeatedly tells the friends to scram, though strangely, no reason is given or shown as to why he wants the park to himself. The fish don't leave, instead just flattening themselves to the ocean floor or hiding. "Shark acted badly. / Being mean is wrong. / But I'm just one fish! / Am I really that strong?" Mr. Fish wonders. After the third pass from the shark (and iteration of Mr. Fish's lament), Mr. Fish finds his strength, especially with his friends swimming beside him. The bullying magically stops when Mr. Fish uses his words ("Bully isn't who you are, / But it is what you have done") and demands respect. Facilely, the final scenes show Shark studying etiquette and then joining the fun. While repetition, especially in a rhyming book like this one, can reinforce a book's message and give listeners an active role in chiming in on the refrains, this one pushes the idea too far, repeating large sections of three different stanzas throughout. Hanna's artwork is full of humorous details that will keep kids poring over the pages, but the scared expressions on the creatures are a bit forced. Enjoy the playground scenes, but read another book for a better bullying message. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews