The Blobfish Book

PreS-Gr 2—A misunderstood deep-sea dweller gets its moment in the sun in this tongue-in-cheek informational picture book. The bubble-gum pink blobfish is sketched onto the pages of a nonfiction work that presents facts about and photos of the fascinating creatures that live miles beneath the ocean surface. Snappy dialogue balloons and humorously exaggerated cartoon features convey the impatient critter's mental "fin-twiddling" as it waits to hear about its own species. When the big moment arrives, delight turns to dismay as the protagonist discovers that "the blobfish was once voted the world's ugliest animal." Tears and self-doubt ensue. However, it doesn't take long for the other deep-water denizens—now embellished with expressive cartoon eyes and speech balloons of their own—to chime in with a bit of empathy and a crayoned letter of support. Additional facts about the featured animals and their environment, along with a list of web resources, are appended.