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Plenty of Fish
A Science I CAN READ Book
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
76 people want to read
About the author
Millicent E. Selsam
143 books18 followersMillicent Ellis Selsam was was a biologist and teacher who wrote natural science literature for children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 24, 2023
Another book from the 1960s about fish. The characters are a boy, his father, his friends, a sales lady, a pet shop owner, and a "cook" in a uniform, the only woman. It's all about boys. No females are important at all.
February 28, 2025
Didn't think I would find a readers book on par with frog and toad, but this was a phenomenal science leveled reader.
March 27, 2011
Reason for Reading: DS read aloud to me as his non-fiction reader.
This is a delightful easy reader, as are most of Millicent Selsam's "Science I Can Read Book"s which are sadly mostly out of print. This would be a wonderful one to bring back into print as the topic isn't out-dated at all. A little boy wants a goldfish, has saved up his money and asks his dad if he may buy one. So off he goes. From the moment he comes home with two goldfish in bags his father starts teaching him about fish, first they need a bowl and so forth. Willy is quite captivated by the way they breathe and does some experiments in the bathroom sink causing a watery mess but he just can't do it. He has to hold his breath. So Dad explains how fish breathe and later Willy is fortunate to find a fish for supper in the kitchen which he experiments on again to see the gills in action.
This book may also be one of the first to show a family consisting of a single father and son. No mention of the situation is made or what happened to the mom, either. They do have a woman in the house who is quite obviously the cook/maid. Blegvad's illustrations are wonderful. Simple tones of red and green but with minute details that are fun to catch looking through the book after the first read. It was just as ds was getting to the end of the book that he discovered that the pet cat was on every page, sometimes cleverly hidden. So we went back afterwards and found him on each page (well the inside the house scenes). I also started to notice things like one droopy sock, a picture of a woman in the dining room (is this mother?) and a dad who loves his boy so much that he throws his coat and hat in the chair to give him a big hug and doesn't care in the least that his hat landed on the floor. Delightful!
This is a delightful easy reader, as are most of Millicent Selsam's "Science I Can Read Book"s which are sadly mostly out of print. This would be a wonderful one to bring back into print as the topic isn't out-dated at all. A little boy wants a goldfish, has saved up his money and asks his dad if he may buy one. So off he goes. From the moment he comes home with two goldfish in bags his father starts teaching him about fish, first they need a bowl and so forth. Willy is quite captivated by the way they breathe and does some experiments in the bathroom sink causing a watery mess but he just can't do it. He has to hold his breath. So Dad explains how fish breathe and later Willy is fortunate to find a fish for supper in the kitchen which he experiments on again to see the gills in action.
This book may also be one of the first to show a family consisting of a single father and son. No mention of the situation is made or what happened to the mom, either. They do have a woman in the house who is quite obviously the cook/maid. Blegvad's illustrations are wonderful. Simple tones of red and green but with minute details that are fun to catch looking through the book after the first read. It was just as ds was getting to the end of the book that he discovered that the pet cat was on every page, sometimes cleverly hidden. So we went back afterwards and found him on each page (well the inside the house scenes). I also started to notice things like one droopy sock, a picture of a woman in the dining room (is this mother?) and a dad who loves his boy so much that he throws his coat and hat in the chair to give him a big hug and doesn't care in the least that his hat landed on the floor. Delightful!
February 18, 2017
A wonderful blend of fiction and non-fiction to learn about fish while also in a story format.
September 17, 2016
A pretty cool little book that children can learn a bit about fish from. It'd be cool to follow this up with getting a fish and making all sorts of your own discoveries. I really enjoy the illustrations as well.
January 12, 2009
I read this book years ago. its awesome
December 19, 2013
The story of a little boy and what he learns while taking care of a gold fish. How they breathe, what the eat and so forth.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews