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Don't Trust Fish!
An absurdly laugh-out-loud funny picture book about the villainy of fish, illustrated by National Book Award-winning creator Dan Santat
Why, dear reader, must you NEVER EVER trust fish?
1) They spend all their time in the water where we can’t see them.
2) Some are as big as a bus—that is not okay.
3) We don't know what they're teaching in their "schools."
4) They are likely plotting our doom.
This nature-guide-gone-wrong is a hilarious, off-the-rails exploration of the seemingly innocent animals that live in the water.
Why, dear reader, must you NEVER EVER trust fish?
1) They spend all their time in the water where we can’t see them.
2) Some are as big as a bus—that is not okay.
3) We don't know what they're teaching in their "schools."
4) They are likely plotting our doom.
This nature-guide-gone-wrong is a hilarious, off-the-rails exploration of the seemingly innocent animals that live in the water.
40 pages, Paperback
First published April 8, 2025
18 people are currently reading
1314 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 473 reviews
January 12, 2025
What makes a good unreliable narrator… in a picture book? One might argue that it’s very much the same qualities that make a good unreliable narrator in a work of fiction for older readers. There’s the choice the author must make as to whether or not to show their hand early or leave the reveal right up until the end. Then there are all the little details that appeared earlier in the book, leaving the reader to doubt everything they were told. That may sound a little heavy for a title whose intended audience is probably still a little unclear on the whole tying-your-shoes deal, but believe me when I say that when it comes to a book like Don’t Trust Fish, I feel inclined to pull out all my literary criticism tips and tricks. There are some picture books that you read that make you chuckle when you see the cover. There are some picture books where they might get one legitimate laugh out of the adult reader. There are some picture books that are funny to young readers. Now consider a book that makes everybody, and I do mean everybody, laugh from the cover onwards. THAT, my friends, is a picture book worth celebrating! That is a rarity! That… is I Don’t Trust Fish.
There are animals in this world that you can rely on. It has fur, is warm-blooded, and feeds its babies milk? That’s a mammal. Cold-blooded with scaly skin and lays eggs? Reptile. Feathers? Birds. Easy peasy. Then… there are fish. Fish don’t follow the usual rules, so you know what that means? “Don’t trust fish!” Don’t trust ‘em! Thanks to this book, you will learn the myriad reasons not to trust these sneaky denizens of the deep. Whale sharks? They’re the size of buses. “That is not okay”. Fish watch us. They plan. They scheme. With scintillating details and delightful art, young readers are given ample reasons not to trust our underwater brethren. But who, precisely, is imparting this information?
I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but Neil Sharpson? He ain’t from around these here parts. Which is to say, the man is Irish. An Irish picture book author right here on our American shores, whatever will they think of next? Welp, he is, and one has to wonder if, upon reading this book, that fact would be apparent to anyone who came to this book cold. Maybe not, though there are a couple tells. Early on in the book you are informed that certain animals have common characteristics. To wit, we are right from the start presented with a cow. “This animal has fur. This animal is warm-blooded. This animal feeds her babies milk. This animal is a MAMMAL.” Now apart from being a wonderfully boring way to begin the book (all the better to offset the inevitable plunge into madness later) this sets up a set of expectations that kids may already be aware of. Filing animals into their phylum is what humans like to do. By the time you get to birds, a pattern has been set and Sharpson allows himself a wry, “Anything with feathers is a bird. Birds are dead easy.” There you go. That little soupçon of Irish. It’s not overt, but it’s there.
Now, while I run the risk of dissecting the frog, I want to just dive a little into why Don’t Trust Fish works as well as it does. Not since the incredible Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo have I encountered a picture book that is so universally and thoroughly enjoyed due to its hilarity. And why is that? Well, let’s talk a bit about what makes picture books funny. Maybe someday I’ll write a book on the subject since, for whatever reason, we don’t seem to have any books on them now. To write a successful funny picture book, you have two audiences you have to appease. You’ve got your adult gatekeepers, the ones who have the dollars in their pockets, and then you have the actual intended audience in the first place: children. Both children and adults, and I mean this truly, are terrible judges of what is funny. This is because kids and parents are not all that different. They both are easily led astray. There are many different ways to appeal to someone, and a book can certainly be funny the first time you read it… and then less and less funny after that. What keeps a book funny after multiple, maybe even hundreds, of reads? Comic timing. The art of the page turn. And the ability to make a book fun to read aloud over and over and over again.
First up, comic timing. This is directly connected to the art of the page turn, and I’d be unwilling to separate the two. Now I looked into this Neil Sharpson fellow. He’s blogged continually since 2012 (which I personally think should be medal-worthy right there) and he’s written many a fine book, but they ain’t children’s books or nuthin’. He does, however, have two children. This makes the odds that he’s read a picture book in the last several years good. But unlike, say, celebrities who read to their kids and then believe that they are now capable of putting words to paper (fun fact: they cannot) Sharpson appears to have learned something from these books he's read. He understands how to make something funny and how to lead a reader astray. The best moment in this book, and I mean this truly, is the moment when we’ve already read the words “Don’t trust fish” repeated times and then we get to a white page with a single innocuous fish that looks like it couldn’t care less about where all this is going. The text reads, “This fish is okay. You can trust him.” Turn the page and together Sharpson and Santat have blown the two-page spread apart with words writ large in all their typographic splendor, reading, “NO! THAT WAS A TEST! DON’T TRUST FISH! ESPECIALLY NOT THIS ONE! THIS IS THE WORST FISH!” Please note that the fish has not changed one jot on this spread. Please also note that Dan Santat made the dot in one of the exclamation points a tiny skull. This is because Dan understands the assignment.
The assignment, in question, is to use the picture book format as a guide that will allow these two creators the freedom to try all kinds of different types of humor. There’s the illogical ramping up to extremes with the fish robots near the end (chaotic extremes are always one of my favorite types of picture book escalation). There are jokes that poke fun at ourselves (the dumb humans and their illogical love of pancakes). There’s the dichotomy of extremely realistic illustrations alongside funny cartoonish ones (more on Santat’s genius with this in a second). There’s the surprise ending. Bathroom humor (brief albeit effective). Someone talking like a pirate. I mean it, people. This has it all.
And it has it all because Dan Santat decided this was where he was going to plant this flag and work hard. Now, like any illustrator, Dan’s somewhat beholden to the text he’s handed. When he’s paired with an author, he has a certain amount of leeway as the illustrator to explore any number of venues. But Dan’s a funny guy. If the text allows him to play off of the humor already in the words, that’s great, but it’s even better if he can also build off of that and accentuate everything with this own distinctive brand of humor. You want to know how to make a successful picture book? You need a precise and simultneous balance of "funny" from both the author and the artist. AND they have to be compatible. AND the artist has to feel comfortable to try things. Things like drawing horrendously realistic animals at the beginning of the book before we even get to the fish. Things like in-jokes in the margins (please watch for any and all brand names that appear on the pages, particularly when sandwiches are being made). Things like sticking the landing with that final joke. Doggone it. Dan’s on fire with this.
I have a small problem. I am no longer a children’s librarian. As such, unless I co-opt one of my library’s storytimes like some crazed woman wielding her library degree like a weapon (commandeering Jammy Time much in the way Blackbeard would commandeer a unassuming vessel on the high seas) I am not likely to have a chance to read this book aloud to anyone anytime soon. I haven’t felt this frustrated at not being about to read a book to kids since I read Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri. But that’s okay, because at least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that you, dear reader, may know a child. It might even be a child with a sense of humor. And if that child does not have a sense of humor, this book may have the power to change all that. This is going to be the picture book that brings us all together this year, so let’s celebrate that fact and, above all else, we must make one thing clear to one another. No matter what they tell you. No matter how they lie, plea, and beg... Don’t. Trust. Fish.
There are animals in this world that you can rely on. It has fur, is warm-blooded, and feeds its babies milk? That’s a mammal. Cold-blooded with scaly skin and lays eggs? Reptile. Feathers? Birds. Easy peasy. Then… there are fish. Fish don’t follow the usual rules, so you know what that means? “Don’t trust fish!” Don’t trust ‘em! Thanks to this book, you will learn the myriad reasons not to trust these sneaky denizens of the deep. Whale sharks? They’re the size of buses. “That is not okay”. Fish watch us. They plan. They scheme. With scintillating details and delightful art, young readers are given ample reasons not to trust our underwater brethren. But who, precisely, is imparting this information?
I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but Neil Sharpson? He ain’t from around these here parts. Which is to say, the man is Irish. An Irish picture book author right here on our American shores, whatever will they think of next? Welp, he is, and one has to wonder if, upon reading this book, that fact would be apparent to anyone who came to this book cold. Maybe not, though there are a couple tells. Early on in the book you are informed that certain animals have common characteristics. To wit, we are right from the start presented with a cow. “This animal has fur. This animal is warm-blooded. This animal feeds her babies milk. This animal is a MAMMAL.” Now apart from being a wonderfully boring way to begin the book (all the better to offset the inevitable plunge into madness later) this sets up a set of expectations that kids may already be aware of. Filing animals into their phylum is what humans like to do. By the time you get to birds, a pattern has been set and Sharpson allows himself a wry, “Anything with feathers is a bird. Birds are dead easy.” There you go. That little soupçon of Irish. It’s not overt, but it’s there.
Now, while I run the risk of dissecting the frog, I want to just dive a little into why Don’t Trust Fish works as well as it does. Not since the incredible Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo have I encountered a picture book that is so universally and thoroughly enjoyed due to its hilarity. And why is that? Well, let’s talk a bit about what makes picture books funny. Maybe someday I’ll write a book on the subject since, for whatever reason, we don’t seem to have any books on them now. To write a successful funny picture book, you have two audiences you have to appease. You’ve got your adult gatekeepers, the ones who have the dollars in their pockets, and then you have the actual intended audience in the first place: children. Both children and adults, and I mean this truly, are terrible judges of what is funny. This is because kids and parents are not all that different. They both are easily led astray. There are many different ways to appeal to someone, and a book can certainly be funny the first time you read it… and then less and less funny after that. What keeps a book funny after multiple, maybe even hundreds, of reads? Comic timing. The art of the page turn. And the ability to make a book fun to read aloud over and over and over again.
First up, comic timing. This is directly connected to the art of the page turn, and I’d be unwilling to separate the two. Now I looked into this Neil Sharpson fellow. He’s blogged continually since 2012 (which I personally think should be medal-worthy right there) and he’s written many a fine book, but they ain’t children’s books or nuthin’. He does, however, have two children. This makes the odds that he’s read a picture book in the last several years good. But unlike, say, celebrities who read to their kids and then believe that they are now capable of putting words to paper (fun fact: they cannot) Sharpson appears to have learned something from these books he's read. He understands how to make something funny and how to lead a reader astray. The best moment in this book, and I mean this truly, is the moment when we’ve already read the words “Don’t trust fish” repeated times and then we get to a white page with a single innocuous fish that looks like it couldn’t care less about where all this is going. The text reads, “This fish is okay. You can trust him.” Turn the page and together Sharpson and Santat have blown the two-page spread apart with words writ large in all their typographic splendor, reading, “NO! THAT WAS A TEST! DON’T TRUST FISH! ESPECIALLY NOT THIS ONE! THIS IS THE WORST FISH!” Please note that the fish has not changed one jot on this spread. Please also note that Dan Santat made the dot in one of the exclamation points a tiny skull. This is because Dan understands the assignment.
The assignment, in question, is to use the picture book format as a guide that will allow these two creators the freedom to try all kinds of different types of humor. There’s the illogical ramping up to extremes with the fish robots near the end (chaotic extremes are always one of my favorite types of picture book escalation). There are jokes that poke fun at ourselves (the dumb humans and their illogical love of pancakes). There’s the dichotomy of extremely realistic illustrations alongside funny cartoonish ones (more on Santat’s genius with this in a second). There’s the surprise ending. Bathroom humor (brief albeit effective). Someone talking like a pirate. I mean it, people. This has it all.
And it has it all because Dan Santat decided this was where he was going to plant this flag and work hard. Now, like any illustrator, Dan’s somewhat beholden to the text he’s handed. When he’s paired with an author, he has a certain amount of leeway as the illustrator to explore any number of venues. But Dan’s a funny guy. If the text allows him to play off of the humor already in the words, that’s great, but it’s even better if he can also build off of that and accentuate everything with this own distinctive brand of humor. You want to know how to make a successful picture book? You need a precise and simultneous balance of "funny" from both the author and the artist. AND they have to be compatible. AND the artist has to feel comfortable to try things. Things like drawing horrendously realistic animals at the beginning of the book before we even get to the fish. Things like in-jokes in the margins (please watch for any and all brand names that appear on the pages, particularly when sandwiches are being made). Things like sticking the landing with that final joke. Doggone it. Dan’s on fire with this.
I have a small problem. I am no longer a children’s librarian. As such, unless I co-opt one of my library’s storytimes like some crazed woman wielding her library degree like a weapon (commandeering Jammy Time much in the way Blackbeard would commandeer a unassuming vessel on the high seas) I am not likely to have a chance to read this book aloud to anyone anytime soon. I haven’t felt this frustrated at not being about to read a book to kids since I read Robo-Sauce by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri. But that’s okay, because at least I can comfort myself with the knowledge that you, dear reader, may know a child. It might even be a child with a sense of humor. And if that child does not have a sense of humor, this book may have the power to change all that. This is going to be the picture book that brings us all together this year, so let’s celebrate that fact and, above all else, we must make one thing clear to one another. No matter what they tell you. No matter how they lie, plea, and beg... Don’t. Trust. Fish.
April 9, 2025
This is the funniest, most unhinged picture book I've read in at a few years. I NEED THIS BOOK IN THE LIBRARY SYSTEM.
It's all about fish, except it has the tone of a political attack ad:
"Ships always sink at sea and never at land. Isn't that strange? DON'T TRUST FISH!
"We know fish swim in schools. But what are they learning in these "schools"? We have a right to know! DON'T TRUST FISH!"
Hilarious and SURPRISINGLY informative, with illustrations by the incomparable Dan Santat. I have already bought season tickets for every kids book Neil Sharpson writes henceforth.
It's all about fish, except it has the tone of a political attack ad:
"Ships always sink at sea and never at land. Isn't that strange? DON'T TRUST FISH!
"We know fish swim in schools. But what are they learning in these "schools"? We have a right to know! DON'T TRUST FISH!"
Hilarious and SURPRISINGLY informative, with illustrations by the incomparable Dan Santat. I have already bought season tickets for every kids book Neil Sharpson writes henceforth.
June 1, 2025
Absolutely adorable and very fun to have read out loud to one. It’s smart and funny and I think children will enjoy having this be their bedtime, or anytime, book to have read to them.
5, incredibly fun, stars!
5, incredibly fun, stars!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2025
I watched Neil read this aloud on the B&N channel on YouTube. He was pretty funny.
July 6, 2025
A fun time! 🐟🐠🐡 I only dropped a star because the more I think about it, in the larger scheme of things, I don’t think villainizing a group for no reason is that funny. But on the lighter side of things, this book is really enjoyable and lovable
April 7, 2025
Nick Miller wrote this and you can’t convince me otherwise
August 16, 2025
This is super funny and it wasn't lost on Tot's tiny sense of humor. Nice illustrations. I'm off to interrogate my fish tank.
December 3, 2025
Author Neil Sharpson’s picture book begins as if it were going to be your garden-variety exposition on animal classes. But then the book gets to fish, and it all goes off the rails in the most hilarious way possible! Sure, tots will love this laugh-out-loud read, but not nearly as much as their grownups. And readers should not allow the hilarity to blind them to how wonderful illustrator Dan Santat’s untrusty fish are and how much information kids will absorb!
Special thanks to Beverly for recommending this. And for a real treat, you can hear the author himself read the book here in his beautiful Irish brogue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5p9...
Special thanks to Beverly for recommending this. And for a real treat, you can hear the author himself read the book here in his beautiful Irish brogue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq5p9...
Read
April 22, 2025Who knew we had to be so worried about fish? Our narrator (who is a fun surprise) takes on the task of warning the reader about all the ways fish are suspicious. A fun read aloud with great illustrations.
September 30, 2025
The lion does not concern himself with his ever dwindling literary attention span.
December 27, 2025
This is the best book ever. That is all.
May 14, 2025
This book was the best picture book I have read in recent times, and I do agree that fish should not be trusted. 10/10.
December 29, 2025
One of my favorites of 2025! Absolutely fantastic picture book! Great for ages 4-8, and older! Lots of info but also hilarious! Highly recommend!
October 24, 2025
This is perhaps the best book I’ve read my kid all year
March 29, 2025
Funniest kids’ book I’ve read in ages- I want to get it for all of my friends’ little ones! 🤣🐟🤨
July 24, 2025
Back with another stories and steam and LOVED❤️ this story. I will say, many political undertones🏛️💰⚖️📜🗂️ with othering and forcing doubt🤨. Dare I say, I trust Jeff (iykyk). But the kiddos🧒👦 were fickle as they were both chanting🗣️ “don’t trust fish” and simultaneously arguing with the plot and arguments being presented. Great activities though—classic chalk (Bella and I made a really cool hop scotch), legos, puzzles🧩, tin foil boat⛵️ activity, AND my favorite 3d fish craft🐟🐠. And not to brag but Bella’s and my fish were FAR superior 🥇 to the toddlers and was a proud trend setter with adding teeth🦷 to my fish. Xoxo, girl who gives hours of work with no pay💋
June 17, 2025
100 stars to a hilarious, laugh-out-loud, knee- slapping, rib-tickling picture book for preschoolers that will definitely appeal to adults!! Some really funny original ideas, great story that will have readers chuckling every step of the way!! And, did I mention the story with its silly, over-the-top, but appropriate educational component???
Author Neil Sharpson has a gift for juvenile humor; illustrator, Dan Santat, has been a favorite of mine for a long time. What a winning duo they make for picture book readers, on land AND in water!!!! hahaha!
Author Neil Sharpson has a gift for juvenile humor; illustrator, Dan Santat, has been a favorite of mine for a long time. What a winning duo they make for picture book readers, on land AND in water!!!! hahaha!
March 1, 2025
Very cute and funny is you already like fish. Starts off educational and turns chaotic very quickly. However, I can see this giving kids who don't like fish or don't fully understand the concept of a story yet, getting a phobia of fish. I could just be overthinking, though.
January 8, 2026
Exceedingly silly stuff, and the type of humor that both kids and adults will find hilarious. For fans of Zach Reino’s Smartypants presentation about the ocean.
January 10, 2025
Super cute picture book! Dion encouraged me to read this one. I loved the art style and the book was both funny and educational.
July 12, 2025
Made my kids laugh...even my 18 year old son! At first we were just thinking ok...whatever, but then you get to the last page and it all makes sense!
August 24, 2025
Comic genius work between word and pictures. Trust warm, furry mammals. Just don’t trust the fish!
Read
November 19, 2025This is one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025:
What starts as a nonfiction animal classification book takes a wild and hilarious turn when the narrator begins describing why readers should not trust fish. First off, there are massive variations between all the species who fall under this category (some fish are tiny while others are big as a bus … and that’s NOT okay). But more importantly, they might be plotting dastardly plans, such as shipwrecks or even world domination! The comedic timing and hyperbole in the text make this book incredibly fun to read out loud. And the illustrations, by the legendary Dan Santat, are equally important to the hilarity of this picture book.
- Alison Doherty
What starts as a nonfiction animal classification book takes a wild and hilarious turn when the narrator begins describing why readers should not trust fish. First off, there are massive variations between all the species who fall under this category (some fish are tiny while others are big as a bus … and that’s NOT okay). But more importantly, they might be plotting dastardly plans, such as shipwrecks or even world domination! The comedic timing and hyperbole in the text make this book incredibly fun to read out loud. And the illustrations, by the legendary Dan Santat, are equally important to the hilarity of this picture book.
- Alison Doherty
August 18, 2025
I am a children’s librarian, and I love seeing how children’s books are really where my humor comes. 10/10. Amazing work. Will be giving it to any future children I have (they will each have their own copy).
May 23, 2025
Gotta love a quick, adorable, funny asf read!
July 1, 2025
funny quirky picture book
July 13, 2025
“I loved it so much that I wanted to turn it into a cupcake!”
August 13, 2025
Absolutely delightful. This should be required reading for all children and most adults.
September 30, 2025
"Don't Trust Fish" is hilarious. Why have another boring animal book when you can have this? It's all enclusive, teaching kids how to recognize mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and how and why to not trust fish, becuase they're so impossible to categorize. But they lay out their arguments in a super accessible, silly way that spans cover to cover.
January 2, 2026
This is such a fun book!
Read it to my grandBs multiple times over the New Year's holiday.
Truly enjoyed each read.
Read it to my grandBs multiple times over the New Year's holiday.
Truly enjoyed each read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 473 reviews