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Fish: A Picture Book
A boy and his dog embark on a fishing journey.
Their first catch of the day: a big fat letter F.
Their second? A slippery I.
After an epic journey beneath the lake's surface, they find what they came for—a FISH, along with some unanticipated menace from a few other letters.
This clever, wordless picture book, by a popular New Yorker cartoonist, is filled with charm and heart and will have no problem swimming its way into the hearts of young readers.
Their first catch of the day: a big fat letter F.
Their second? A slippery I.
After an epic journey beneath the lake's surface, they find what they came for—a FISH, along with some unanticipated menace from a few other letters.
This clever, wordless picture book, by a popular New Yorker cartoonist, is filled with charm and heart and will have no problem swimming its way into the hearts of young readers.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2016
1 person is currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Liam Francis Walsh
3 books14 followersLiam Francis Walsh is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator, originally from northern Wisconsin. He grew up on a dairy farm with lots of siblings and books and a pet crow. He now lives in the Italian part of Switzerland. His award winning cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
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December 29, 2016Neo liked that he could create his own story with pictures alone.
August 8, 2016
Just a trifle too abstract for little kids. But I LOVE the art - black and white and two colors that make me think of Robert McCloskey.
October 17, 2016
A boy and his dog are off on a fishing expedition—but they're not looking for what you think they're looking for. My seven-year-old daughter and I were so surprised at the end! This pictures-only book is clever, simple, and engaging.
July 21, 2016
A boy and his dog head out onto the lake to fish one morning. Both boy and dog have their own fishing poles. They first catch the letter F. Then the letter I. The letter S is next. But beware the huge letter C that is circling the boat. When they hook a Q, it is thrown back into the water. Soon though they are caught in a whirlpool of letters, swept underwater among schools of them zigging and zagging. When the boy makes it back to the boat, he has the H under his arm, but loses it as the huge letter C reappears. Not to worry, his dog has saved the day with the H to complete FISH. But was that what they were trying to catch?
This wordless picture book depends on its wonderful illustrations to carry the story. And do they ever! Done with a limited color palette of pale blue and bright red, they shine on the page. Each character also shines with personality and energy. The ending of the book is very satisfying, especially since all readers will think that the goal was to catch FISH when actually it was to do something entirely different. It’s a great twist that is filled with jolly cheer.
A standout wordless picture book that illustrates how letters form words in the most energetic and playful of ways. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
This wordless picture book depends on its wonderful illustrations to carry the story. And do they ever! Done with a limited color palette of pale blue and bright red, they shine on the page. Each character also shines with personality and energy. The ending of the book is very satisfying, especially since all readers will think that the goal was to catch FISH when actually it was to do something entirely different. It’s a great twist that is filled with jolly cheer.
A standout wordless picture book that illustrates how letters form words in the most energetic and playful of ways. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
August 22, 2017
Cute! I was not expecting that little twist of an ending! A slightly educational book on spelling, though mostly just for entertainment. A young boy and his dog go fishing, and bring in a fresh haul of...letters. The end goal seems obvious, but along the way, we find plenty of other lake-dwelling letters, including some more malevolent ones.
This is a good book for those little ones just learning letters, but not quite ready for full words. They can point out the letters as they appear, and adults can help them identify which animal the letter is meant to represent. This might not work as well for a school storytime, for the opposite reason: a lack of words could make this difficult to read aloud.
This would work well as a gift for those very early readers, but the short use-life does mean it might be better to just borrow the book from the library.
This is a good book for those little ones just learning letters, but not quite ready for full words. They can point out the letters as they appear, and adults can help them identify which animal the letter is meant to represent. This might not work as well for a school storytime, for the opposite reason: a lack of words could make this difficult to read aloud.
This would work well as a gift for those very early readers, but the short use-life does mean it might be better to just borrow the book from the library.
October 12, 2016
E. had me read this a couple months ago with Literacy Moment in mind. And I liked it. Just forgot to record it. Looked it over again and it is a very fun wordless book with a bit of a twist at the end. Could do Literacy Moment, though I wouldn't want them to lose the story as often happens when I use a book. But could use in a Fish theme and then pull out the Fishing Letters for Lit. Moment!
June 9, 2016
What a fun ride! The ending through me for a loop in the most pleasant of ways. Vibrant illustrations!
August 14, 2024
How this came up in summer Olympics week I don't know! Serendipity! A very different, clever picture book. A boy and his dog go fishing but their "catches" are capitalized red letters. They are trying really hard to spell F-I-S-H and they succeed! Turns out they need those letters to complete the "Finish Line" sign for a run. Wonderful! Kids were able to connect this to the Olympics! (p.s. wordless, a great book for emerging readers!)
July 2, 2016
Loved this book so much - Reminded me of Caldecott award winners I enjoyed from the library as a kid! Beautiful illustrations and a compelling story of a boy and his dog at the lake. Great for children who are just learning the alphabet or already reading, with letters appearing on the page in a lifelike way, like a swarm of "Bs:" A fun and riveting ride that is simple, creative, and captivates the imagination! Highly recommended - it's an affordable (and favorite) gift for young ones that parents will enjoy just as much!
August 17, 2016
This was a very strange book. When I began going through each page of the book, all I felt was confusion. That confusion did not dissipate throughout the entirety of the book. It only increased when the word FISH was combined with another two lonely letters to finish the word. Unfortunately, I did not like this book and would not recommend it.
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June 9, 2016This was a really interesting book. Made me think of Jon Klassen's book with the dog and the diamond because the dog noticed things that the human didn't. I thought it was funny and thought provoking and could be interpreted in multiple ways (which isn't my forte, but I know it happens).
March 2, 2017
#humour #wordless it's seldom that a book has me laughing out loud early in the morning while I'm trying to read my way through a stack but this one definitely did it. Great illustrations, wordless a twist in the tale - it has all the ingredients of a great book.
July 15, 2016
WOW. This book was so cool. It's been awhile since I have seen a picture book that feels this fresh.
July 28, 2016
Meh. Dog was the best part.
September 17, 2016
Best part of this wordless PB is a boy fishing for letters! A disjointed plot had me wondering how and why it connected to the race at the end or the letters attacking the boat.
March 3, 2017
Genre: Fish is a fantasy fiction wordless book. Fish is a make believe story about a boy and a dog who are fishing for letters, rather than fish. This is typically something that does not happen in real life.
Target Audience : The target audience for Fish is primary school age students from kindergarten to third grade. Fish is an easy to follow wordless novel with great graphics and color.
Text-to-Self:
This book reminds me of going fishing with my dad and brother when I was younger. I remember one time in particular when it was very windy outside. We got pretty far out into the middle of the lake and realized how bad the waves were. The boat was rocking back and forth, the wind was in our faces, and the waves were splashing us inside the boat. We quickly tried to turn around but it felt like forever until we made it back close to shore where the water was a little calmer. This particularly reminds me of the page in the book Fish when the boy and the dog are sitting in the boat and the letter C aggressively comes out of the water creating huge waves and almost capsizes their boat. Luckily the dog was able to hold on to all the letters they caught and they sailed back to shore.
Text-to-Text:
Fish reminds me of the fantasy fiction book Float written by Daniel Miyares. These two texts are similar because they both are wordless picture books and both have to do with boats and water. Fish is about a boy and a dog who go fishing for letters instead of fish. They easily catch the letters F, I, and S but have a difficult time catching H. Through their wild adventure trying to catch the letters they finally sail back to shore with all four letters, F, I, S, and H. Now back at shore, you realize the purpose of their fishing trip. It was not to create the word fish, but it was to add to the letters IN to create the word FINISH at the end of the finish line of the race. Float is story about a boy who goes out in the rainy and tries to float a paper boat that his dad made him in a puddle. The boy then sends his boat down a gutter and the boat gets lost. The boy comes home very sad that he lost his boat. The boys dad dries him off and changes his wet clothes. Then the weather gets nice and his dad helps him make a paper airplane. The boy goes back out to play. Both texts, Fish and Float, are cute wordless stories about a boy and his adventure with a boat and water. Both books allow children to use their imagination to create a story.
Text-to-World:
This text relates to the real world in that the boy and the dog are going fishing, however, this text is different from the real world because people do not typically fish for letters. In addition, the letters would not be able to pull you out of the boat nor aggressively come out of the water and almost capsize the boat. Lastly, this book is different from the real world because people do not fish for letters in the ocean to complete a race sign that says, “FINISH”.
Target Audience : The target audience for Fish is primary school age students from kindergarten to third grade. Fish is an easy to follow wordless novel with great graphics and color.
Text-to-Self:
This book reminds me of going fishing with my dad and brother when I was younger. I remember one time in particular when it was very windy outside. We got pretty far out into the middle of the lake and realized how bad the waves were. The boat was rocking back and forth, the wind was in our faces, and the waves were splashing us inside the boat. We quickly tried to turn around but it felt like forever until we made it back close to shore where the water was a little calmer. This particularly reminds me of the page in the book Fish when the boy and the dog are sitting in the boat and the letter C aggressively comes out of the water creating huge waves and almost capsizes their boat. Luckily the dog was able to hold on to all the letters they caught and they sailed back to shore.
Text-to-Text:
Fish reminds me of the fantasy fiction book Float written by Daniel Miyares. These two texts are similar because they both are wordless picture books and both have to do with boats and water. Fish is about a boy and a dog who go fishing for letters instead of fish. They easily catch the letters F, I, and S but have a difficult time catching H. Through their wild adventure trying to catch the letters they finally sail back to shore with all four letters, F, I, S, and H. Now back at shore, you realize the purpose of their fishing trip. It was not to create the word fish, but it was to add to the letters IN to create the word FINISH at the end of the finish line of the race. Float is story about a boy who goes out in the rainy and tries to float a paper boat that his dad made him in a puddle. The boy then sends his boat down a gutter and the boat gets lost. The boy comes home very sad that he lost his boat. The boys dad dries him off and changes his wet clothes. Then the weather gets nice and his dad helps him make a paper airplane. The boy goes back out to play. Both texts, Fish and Float, are cute wordless stories about a boy and his adventure with a boat and water. Both books allow children to use their imagination to create a story.
Text-to-World:
This text relates to the real world in that the boy and the dog are going fishing, however, this text is different from the real world because people do not typically fish for letters. In addition, the letters would not be able to pull you out of the boat nor aggressively come out of the water and almost capsize the boat. Lastly, this book is different from the real world because people do not fish for letters in the ocean to complete a race sign that says, “FINISH”.
February 15, 2019
Read for Assignment 3
The boy and his dog rush to their boat to begin fishing for letters. Together they catch the letters F, I, and S, only to not catch the other letter they are looking for. After catching an unwanted Q, the boy struggles to reel in an H, that eventually pulls him under water in effort to retrieve it. He grabs hold of the H and makes it back to his dog and boat, only to be attacked by a swarm of Bs and a C monster that causes all his caught letters to fall out of their boat. Disappointed, the boy turns to his dog who has the F, I, S, and H is his hands. They both ride back to land and rush to add their four letters to a sign with other NI on it, to make the FINISH line complete for runners, where he and his dog are then celebrated.
This book communicates to readers the ideas of hard work, perseverance, and teamwork in a unique and cute way. The authors use of detailed pictures and letter puns tell the story so that words are not needed to understand the plot. It would be useful for young readers learning the alphabet.
The boy and his dog rush to their boat to begin fishing for letters. Together they catch the letters F, I, and S, only to not catch the other letter they are looking for. After catching an unwanted Q, the boy struggles to reel in an H, that eventually pulls him under water in effort to retrieve it. He grabs hold of the H and makes it back to his dog and boat, only to be attacked by a swarm of Bs and a C monster that causes all his caught letters to fall out of their boat. Disappointed, the boy turns to his dog who has the F, I, S, and H is his hands. They both ride back to land and rush to add their four letters to a sign with other NI on it, to make the FINISH line complete for runners, where he and his dog are then celebrated.
This book communicates to readers the ideas of hard work, perseverance, and teamwork in a unique and cute way. The authors use of detailed pictures and letter puns tell the story so that words are not needed to understand the plot. It would be useful for young readers learning the alphabet.
February 15, 2019
This book illustrates the adventure of a boy and his dog as they set out fishing for the letters F-I-S-H. There are many letter puns as the boy and his dog and attacked by a C-monster and a swarm of B's. At the end of the book you see that the letters F-I-S-H are being used to complete the word "FINISH" on the finish line of a race. All the racers were confused until the boy and his dog came to the rescue. (Used for assignment 3).
This book is helpful if you are interacting with young children who are still learning to read. The children can identify the different letter as they see them in the book. This book may be too easy for some kids. However, it may be useful for students if they use it in an activity where they summarize what happened. This is a good way for students to practice oral or written academic language. It can also be a helpful resource when working with ELs.
This book is helpful if you are interacting with young children who are still learning to read. The children can identify the different letter as they see them in the book. This book may be too easy for some kids. However, it may be useful for students if they use it in an activity where they summarize what happened. This is a good way for students to practice oral or written academic language. It can also be a helpful resource when working with ELs.
April 21, 2020
Between 3-4 stars. It's a little too abstract for me to really give it 4 stars, though. Still, it's a clever play on words/letters centered around a little boy and his dog on a fishing trip. I enjoyed the illustrations. The black and white with little splashes of color is nice and striking.
It's really a clever read, good for a little bit older picture book readers I think, but especially being a wordless book, it's a hard one for storytimes. Like most wordless books, though, can be a lot of fun as a one-on-one read, allowing the kids to build their own details in the story. Overall, a good one, especially for a debut book.
It's really a clever read, good for a little bit older picture book readers I think, but especially being a wordless book, it's a hard one for storytimes. Like most wordless books, though, can be a lot of fun as a one-on-one read, allowing the kids to build their own details in the story. Overall, a good one, especially for a debut book.
June 10, 2017
This book is a very unique ABC type of book (also wordless), with interesting and engaging illustrations. It's about a boy and his dog who are out for a day of fishing on the lake. They are catching letters and eventually catch F-I-S-H but have to throw some letters back along the way. The surprise to the reader is that at the end, the little boy is catching the letters to complete a 'FINISH' line flag for a big race!
November 20, 2017
Kids need to be old enough to realize that after they catch F-I-S, that they're looking for H and also old enough to catch the trick at the end (where they use their FISH to turn NI to FINISH).
They find it easy to catch F, I, and S, but H is more elusive. They throw back Q. When they find H, it is VERY hard to reel in. Then, they survive a huge wave. The boy is sad because he thinks the FISH has washed overboard, but his dog has saved it. They take FISH into town and help save a race.
They find it easy to catch F, I, and S, but H is more elusive. They throw back Q. When they find H, it is VERY hard to reel in. Then, they survive a huge wave. The boy is sad because he thinks the FISH has washed overboard, but his dog has saved it. They take FISH into town and help save a race.
November 29, 2017
This is a great wordless book about a dog and boy who go fishing for letters in the lake. They need specific ones (F, I, S, and H - but not for what you think!). Jasper (3yo) really loved seeing the big, red letters and learning the sounds they make.
Illustrations are very good - need to be for a wordless book!
Illustrations are very good - need to be for a wordless book!
April 17, 2019
Wordless book
The young boy and his dog set out to fish for letters in the pond. They find F I and S quickly. He has to dive for H. The other letters help F I S H escape but his dog saves the day.
A surprise ending when readers discover what he will be doing with the letters to help finish the race.
The young boy and his dog set out to fish for letters in the pond. They find F I and S quickly. He has to dive for H. The other letters help F I S H escape but his dog saves the day.
A surprise ending when readers discover what he will be doing with the letters to help finish the race.
August 1, 2021
FISH was written by a cartoonist and it shows. Illustrated in cartoonist or graphic novel fashion with blocks telling the story, this uses excellent action, page turns, and comedy to tell of an epic journey. It plays with letter and text. It has a surprising ending. It is inventive and creative and oh so much fun.
April 17, 2021
Huh. A wordless picture book, sort of. A boy and his dog go fishing on a lake, but they're fishing for letters. They're trying to catch the letters to spell FISH. They throw back the Q. A school of letters fight back. With an unnecessary twist ending.
April 28, 2022
Wordless.
A boy & his dog are fishing.
They catch letters: F-I-S-H.
Additional letters go crazy & out of control.
They save the day by completing the race completion line, by adding F in front of the existing I-N and adding I-S-H at the end to spell "Finish."
Marginal.
A boy & his dog are fishing.
They catch letters: F-I-S-H.
Additional letters go crazy & out of control.
They save the day by completing the race completion line, by adding F in front of the existing I-N and adding I-S-H at the end to spell "Finish."
Marginal.
March 5, 2023
An odd and delightful fishing expedition for letters of the alphabet has a battle with a "C" serpent and much adventure. And a cute dog!
While told with many letters, it has only four words, half of which are "The End."
So weird. So satisfying.
While told with many letters, it has only four words, half of which are "The End."
So weird. So satisfying.
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May 25, 2023Turn/Level: B/2.5
Fishing, Letters, Racing, Spelling
This book is textless, so the kids will be telling you the story. However the kids need to know some basics on spelling to do so. Older audiences only.
Fishing, Letters, Racing, Spelling
This book is textless, so the kids will be telling you the story. However the kids need to know some basics on spelling to do so. Older audiences only.
December 19, 2016
playful and fun wordless picture book with a surprise ending. Love the boy and his dog and the old time color palette.
May 11, 2017
What a lovely book! A boy and his dog go fishing for letters and run into a bit of a challenge. Do not underestimate the great team of a boy and his dog!! They save the day!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews