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Fidgety Fish

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Tiddler was always fidgeting. He wriggled and squiggled, until his mum told him to go out and swim till he was tired. So Tiddler swam out into the deep sea, where he met limpets and jellyfish, he went further till he reached a big, dark cave.

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

5 people are currently reading
233 people want to read

About the author

Ruth Galloway

52 books10 followers

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5 stars
109 (27%)
4 stars
108 (27%)
3 stars
137 (35%)
2 stars
34 (8%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
Profile Image for Peggy Smith.
848 reviews31 followers
August 12, 2008
Adorable, brightly colored illustrations with a so-so story. The premise is promising - a mommy fish sends the child fish out to swim off some energy and he manages to get into trouble.... but the execution just isn't that good. Still it's ok... just not great.
Profile Image for plumcrazybooks.
121 reviews
February 26, 2012
Tiddler the fish learns a lesson. The book has great vocabulary words...wriggled, squiggled, glided....and more. Good for kids 3 years old and up.
50 reviews
April 26, 2019
This book is about many differnt kinds of fish in the sea. Although it starts off with the fidgety fish who explains that it cannnot sit still. The end of the book shows that although he cannot manage to sit still the other fish still play with him. The illustrations in the book are good because they show the reader many differnt kinds of fish.

I gave this book 5 stars because I think it is very important that children are able to find books they can relate to. This book would be good for the student that feels this way but does not have someone to relate to with or talk about. The ending highlights inclusion which is not talked about enough in books but is vital in a child’s life.
Profile Image for Kristin Nelson.
1,459 reviews21 followers
November 20, 2021
Kids love knowing more than the characters in a book. They get a kick out of watching Tiddler swim right into the "cave"! And what kid doesn't enjoy a book with burping!?!
Profile Image for Melanie.
29 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2014
I like this book but more importantly my 3 year old loves it. Out of the 6 books from the library, this one is picked first each time we sit down to read. The story is cute and silly. It's a great read aloud.
Profile Image for Eliza.
70 reviews14 followers
June 27, 2018
I read this book to my girl (3.5 years) and she loved it! She loved all the colorful pages and things in them, she laughed a lot and wanted to re read it many times more!

Fidgeting, wriggled, squiggled and giggled - loved these words- good vocabulary for young children
Profile Image for Michelle.
1,197 reviews
November 15, 2010
Great for preschool because the pictures are big and bold and the story line is easy to follow.
3,239 reviews
October 7, 2011
The rhyme is sometimes difficult to hear in the flow of the words but the illustrations are colorful and fun in this story about a fish who cannot sit stil
600 reviews2 followers
March 9, 2018
A fidgety fish drives his mother crazy with his fidgeting. When she sends him out to settle down, he quickly gets into trouble!
A good selection for fish-themed storytimes.
56 reviews
March 21, 2019
This fiction picture book tells the story of Tiddler the fidgety fish. He is a child fish that cannot be still, so his mom sends him outside. She tells him to watch out for the big fish. Tiddler goes out and has a grand time until he is swallowed by a big fish! He is burped back out thankfully, and after that, he went home and went straight to bed because he was finally tired. I enjoyed this book because I love under the sea themed illustrations, fish are fascinating with all of their colors so I was attracted to this book immediately. I like that Tiddlers mom gets fed up with him and sends him outside to use some of his own creativity. If I taught a kindergarten class, or even preschool, I could use this book as a read-aloud and then have the kids use their "energy," to go outside. I would have them find something on the playground that resembled being swallowed by a big fish and the burped out again and they could each act it out for the class. I assume they would choose something like a tunnel slide, but there are no wrong answers. Then I would have them come back inside and settle down for a nap, just like Tiddle's mom did.
50 reviews
April 25, 2020
Tiddler is a very busy little fish. He has all kinds of energy, and his mom tells him he needs to get it all out. His mom sends him on a trip in the ocean. She tells him to be careful because there is a lot of big fish out there. Tiddler goes zooming around the sea, meeting several sea creatures. Tiddler finds a cave and swims deep inside when all of a sudden it closes! Tiddler isn't in a cave, he's in the tummy of the Big Fish. Scared, Tiddler begins to swim around and bump all over in the Big Fish's tummy. He fidgets so much that the Big Fish burps and spits out Tiddler.
I gave this book 4 stars. I think children would really enjoy the illustrations, especially when Tiddler is shut in the Big Fish's tummy. This story doesn't point out that Tiddler has ADHD, but as an adult reader I can assume that the issue is an attention disorder. ADHD is commonly misunderstood by adults and children alike, so I think it's important to show children that they are important too. It's also important for people to understand that these children can't just "run off the energy," which this book does a great job displaying and in a positive light.
Profile Image for Jess Hedgecock.
27 reviews1 follower
May 2, 2019
1. Characters, setting, plot, etc.: Tiddler is the Fidgety Fish within this story. He can never sit still and one day is mother told him to go out to swim till he was tired. He gets trapped in a larger fishes tummy. He has to get out and get home as fast as he can.
2. Literary or artistic elements: I love the rhyming in this book. It is a little bit of a tongue twister, but manageable for teachers and most students.
3. Rating on the book: I love this book! I feel like the students will not catch onto the fact Tiddler is "different" but relate to him. The conversation you can have with your students after reading would be beneficial to their understanding of why some of their friends need breaks or act the way they do.
42 reviews
March 21, 2019
This story is about a fish that just doesn't stop moving. His mom has had enough and sent him out of the house to get all the energy out. He adventures and finds himself in a dark cave, shivers, shakes then BURRRP, he flew out all the way back home.
This story wasn't my favorite but it shows very extrovert students to chill and take a breather or they'll find themselves in some trouble like the fish found himself in another big fishes belly. 3 stars, I liked the colorful pictures but not so much the storyline.
64 reviews
November 22, 2019
I liked seeing all the colorful fish in this story. There was also a wide variety of animals shown. I also liked that there was a good representation of the food chain ever so slightly that made it more appropriate for young children. I also thought that the character Tiddler was very relateable for young children because he was adventuress and he fidgeted a lot.
Profile Image for Julie Spencer.
112 reviews26 followers
May 20, 2020
Loved reading this book to my children, its great.

Lots of colours, images and rhyme. I often wonder if it was reading to my children that encouraged me to return to University a Mature Student. These books are not simply teaching our children, they teach all that read them.

Time for a charity bag now, but I will buy it again for my grandchildren, highly recommended.
Profile Image for میم صالحی فر.
348 reviews39 followers
April 3, 2023
کلا تصاویر این مجموعه پر از رنگ های شاد و جذابند
ولی به نظرم این جلد از بقیه ضعیف تر بود.
تیدلر یه ماهی کوچولوست که یه جا اروم و قرار نمیگیره. مادرش یه روز که از کارهاش خسته میشه میگه بره بیرون از خانه و اینقدر بازی کنه تا خسته بشه، ولی حواسش به ماهی بزرگ باشه.
تیدلر بازیگوش هم در ادامه خیلی اتفاقی و از روی بی دقتی با ماهی بزرگ برخورد می کنه، اونم چه برخوردی!


https://taaghche.com/book/91126
79 reviews
April 15, 2020
The illustrations in the book are eye catching. The colors in the book contrast one another and make one another pop. The words in the book are not hard for children to understand. The kids will be engaged due to the illustrations which are detailed and funny.
56 reviews
October 31, 2025
Very fun and colourful story about a fish who goes on a big adventure with lovely, bright illustrations. Aimed for young KS1 children due to simple easy language, and teaches children to be curious but also careful.
Profile Image for Kest Schwartzman.
Author 1 book12 followers
August 31, 2017
If, hypothetically, you spend time with a small person who happens to really like whales, you'll find this book worthwhile as a bribe to get said small person to sit down.
1 review
March 10, 2018
want to read book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
43 reviews
February 17, 2019
This book is a great one for teachers. In a classroom, no two students are the same. One of your students make relate to this story about being fidgety!
10.8k reviews29 followers
May 7, 2019
I really liked this book about a fish who can't sit still so his mother send him out to the ocean to play but warns him of the very big fish out there. Fun and silly. Toddler and up
Profile Image for Stephanie.
88 reviews
December 23, 2019
My son loves this book hence the rating however the execution really irritates me and I do not find that it flows as easily as other books.
3 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2023
My parents read this to me growing up. Even before I was able to read, I memorized this book! Brings back many memories. I recommend this for your children’s bed time stories!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews

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