FICTION

FishFishFish

by Lee NORDLING
illus. by Meritxell Bosch. 32p. (Three-Story Books). Graphic Universe. Apr. 2015. lib. ed. $25.26. ISBN 9781467745758; pap. $6.95. ISBN 9781467745765. LC 2014022953.
COPY ISBN
Gr 1–4—This picture book in graphic novel format has a neat structural concept to showcase point of view. The panels can be read by following one of three rows individually, or by going page-by-page in the usual reading method. Each of these rows presents a different character's perspective of events; the top is for the oblivious little yellow fish, the middle for the persistent predator, and the bottom is for the broader collective who bands together to prevent a tragedy. Although kids' eyes will move most naturally from left to right, they will get the full story by taking in the whole page. Even adults can appreciate this nifty approach to the format. Just like Nordling's and Bosch's previous graphic novel BirdCatDog (Lerner, 2014), the final page of FishFishFish states the moral of the story.
VERDICT Thanks to its wordless design, expressive characters, colorful look, and small jumps in time between panels, this tale will appeal to a broad range of children.
Reviewed by Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ontario, Canada
A hungry barracuda assumes--wrongly--a lone fish will make an easy meal (FishFishFish). Two children have very different imaginary experiences of the same tea party in the park (SheHeWe). These wordless graphic novels make good use of an original format (read across panels for individual characters' perspectives; read top to bottom to "get the whole story"), but the stories are occasionally difficult to follow. Review covers these Three Story Books titles: FishFishFish and SheHeWe.
 , Feb 01, 2015

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