Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On

by Lois Ehlert

In this New York Times Best Illustrated Book, brightly colored fish paired with interactive die-cut pages introduce young children to counting and basic addition in this fun and accessible concept book by Caldecott Honor–winning author-illustrator Lois Ehlert.

Bold and vibrant fish who fill this playful deep sea adventure are sure to school and delight young readers with each page turn. Easy-to-read text and graphic shapes make this book the perfect counting classic to gift to every little one's library.
 

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Mathematics, Animals, Childrens, Storytime, Number

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Lois Ehlert has created numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor. She lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Britt Guild · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lois Ehlert's bright and colorful pictures. The pictures of fish jump out of the page and my daughter loves counting each fish eye. There is a rhythm to the book where we almost turn each page to a beat. My preschool daughter has learned book concepts by just wanting to turn each page. We enjoy reading and counting together as we anticipate the last line of the book, "all of those fish eyes looking at me."

This pictures in this picture book are so vivid and clear that it is a great book to be used for read aloud in kindergarten and preschool learners. The book can help reinforce counting, number recognition, and identifying colors and shapes. My preschooler loves to pretend read this book as she enjoys counting on her own as well. This book would be a part of my classroom library and a book students are sure to enjoy.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is a colorful counting book, some black text appears on navy pages, making it difficult to read.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I really love it”

[Kristy Breese · Rating 3 out of 5]

What? This book encourages children to pretend that they turn into a fish. Children will have fun counting from 1-10 as they count the brightly colored fish.

So What? Again, I love the vibrant, bright colors that Ehlert uses in her books. Children will enjoy reading this book.

Now What? This might be a fun book to use during a math unit. I might be able to use it during an oceanography unit as well.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good concept book for counting, also good for teaching prediction, however some fish are hard to see and count even when they are suppose to be obvious. Somewhat bad execution in the illustration because of a lack of sufficient contrast. Not as attractive as the Circus book by Ehlert.

[Anne Miranda]

My boys loved this book growing up. Our copy is well-worn.

[Igor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book from school. Nice colourful fish. Since my son likes blue, and the fish were in the dark blue 'ocean', he really enjoyed. Besides he counted all fish and learned the wirld tail. He also said that our dog had a tail. Interesting association.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this counting book. The fish are brightly colored, except for one. The black text on the navy background is a whisper compared to the white text.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On
This is a wonderful book for Pre-K and Kindergarten students. It contains 1-10 counting basics and introduces the concept of adding. It's colorful, engaging, and students can get practice counting on every page. Fish Eyes would be a great addition to a class library.

[Ashley Zuniga · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has a bit of a rhyming scale in it. The book would be great when talking about fish to children. The illustrations in the book are kinda bland. It could use a bit more detail in it.

[Lindsey Rakich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this book! Awesome read! I would highly recommend to all young children learning the basics of math. This book won a Parents Choice Award. I enjoyed reading this book about counting from 1 to 10. At the start of the story, the author invites the reader to join her on an adventure underwater and “put on a suit of scales, add some fins and one of these tails …, and turn into a beautiful fish.” It introduces children to counting and basic addition in this simple concept book. Lois Ehlert uses vibrant, intriguing colors to keep the children engaged. The book goes through counting different fish, each with a cut out for their eye. The book proceeds in numerical order, while also changing the look of the fish. The book introduces adjectives and patterns to describe the fish. It has a lot of themes to focus on that could be more emphasized rather than just the one or two big focuses. I also really liked how the publication and title page were a part of the actually story. This book also allows endless possibilities of lessons and activities to be paired with. Good read for Pre-K and K.

[Mary Henson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This vibrant counting book is true to its name with fish eyes (round cut-outs) for fingers. Readers count while touching the fish eye holes on each page. Children will likely enjoy the tactile counting and exquisite color. The simple, colorful shapes and lines on the deep blue background clearly identify the items to be counted.

The concept of adding one by counting on is also included as each foldout teases to the next number in gray indicating that adding one more will increase the number in sequence. "Five spotted fish plus me makes 6."

It's easy to imagine the many ways a parent or teacher could engage a child with this book from painting in the same spectacular colors and cutting out fish for counting to fishing with magnetic fish. The book jacket reveals that author/illustrator Louis Ehlert never learned to swim but has always enjoyed watching fish swim. I would recommend this book for children from 2 to 5.

[Jesus Carino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ehlert, Lois. Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On(1992). A counting book for pre-k –Kindergarten students. The book encourages the reader to imagine themselves as a fish under the sea. Rationale: the author perhaps wants the reader to feel part of an adventure as they count the number of fish they see. I found this book to be a great beginners book for children who are learning how to count from 1 to 10. Plus, this book is a great transition for children who are being introduce of the concept of addition. In addition, the illustrations are magnificent because the bright colors help the fish stand out with the variety of patterns and colors. This is a great way to get children to pause and see the different kinds of attributes each fish has. Overall, a great beginners book for children to read aloud with their parents or classmates.

[Bekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert is about a fish who swims through the sea, and sees a bunch of colorful fish. He sees fish in different number groups, and counts the fish, plus him. He sees long fish, skinny fish, dart fish, fan fish, and any other fish you can imagine. Then at the end, the book asks "If you could truly have a wish, would you wish to be a fish?"

I give this book 4/5 stars. It would be a great resource for young children who are learning how to count. The illustrations are great and very colorful. The book counts 1 fish plus the fish telling the story, all the way up to 10 fish plus the fish who is telling the story. Another interesting part of this book is that on some of the pages, the fish eyes are cut out, so they take the color of the background on the page before or after that page. Very creative, and a great read for young readers.

[McKenna Mahoney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert is an informational kids book using fish to teach kids how to count. The little fish bring the readers along on a story all about the different looking fish counting all the way up to 10. Showing beautiful fish with lots of different colors. It teaches kids a great lesson in an easy reading book.

I gave this book 4 stars because its a great book teaching kids to learn how to count. From 1 to 10. I like that Lois used fish and had pictures along with the number (if the number is 4 the pictures is of 4 fish) allowing the kids to count along. The illustrations are really good with lots of bright colors on the fish and their eyes cut out of the pages leaving a hole. I would use this book with my little kids when they are first learning to count.

[Morgan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts off with a little rhyme that talks about what the reader will see throughout the book. This is a counting book that also involves very basic addition when adding a fish on each page. There are also little cut outs in each page and that will be engaging for the reader. Then the book ends with a rhyme that talks about how many fish were seen throughout the book.

The main reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is becasue it is kind of hard to see the fish at the bottom corner of the page beging added to the next. I really like the bright colors on each page the unique new fish. This book would be good for young children and to use as a class read.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun counting book counting from 1 to 10.
Additionally, there's secondary text that does a +1 on each page (1 green fish plus me makes 2).

Some people are complaining about contrast problems. In the copy I read, the primary text was in white against a navy background. The secondary text was in an olive-tan against that same background. I had no issues reading and I'm sensitive to contrast issues.

I think the fish are bound to inspire kids to play and also to create similar fish with construction paper. The layered collages just call to be repeated.

[Cassandra Hoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did an excellent job considering it is classified as just a counting book for children. All of the illustrations are very vivid, and draw children in by allowing them to count the scales of fish, along with having them look at the details of the dark ocean water. Every single one of the pages included a simple math concept for children to learn, while allowing them to be interesting by the illustrations of fish, and working on their literacy. I really enjoyed how the author included counting the tails of fish, the scales, and the different pigments of the ocean waters.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brightly colored fish counts up from 1 to 10.

Inspired by the child rhyme "I wish I was a fish," this picture book teaches young readers both the numbers 1 to 10 and addition plus 1 math facts.

The illustrations are Lois Ehlert's signature, brightly colored collages. The design of the book features cutouts, so that the reader looks through the fishes' eyes to the colors on the pages before and after.

[Adriana Palencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great counting book that can also be used to teach children about sorting. The teacher could do a sorting activity with the same patterns that the children saw on the fish. I didn't really enjoy reading the book, but I believe it is appropriate for young readers. The sentences are short, and the words are easy to see. I liked that the book had the number demonstrated three different ways. I was also pleased to see that the book had splashes of bright colors.

[Arielle Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book won a Parents Choice Award. It introduces young children to counting and basic addition in this fun and simple concept book. The book has a rhythm when you read so that keeps children more intrigued. Lois Ehlert uses vibrant, bright colors to keep the children reading. I gave this book four stars because it is a great book for teaching math to younger children.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright illustrations and no real story except to count up to 10. Still toddlers and preschool kids will engage with the book and have fun counting and thinking about what kinds of fish they might like to be. It would be an appropriate and adequate, but not outstanding, part of a counting or fish themed story time.

[Jenna M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert grabbed my attention with its bright illustrations. The book uses dazzlingly colored fish to introduce young children to counting and basic addition. I think this book would be engaging for students learning to count because of the natural rhythm that flows with the text and the captivating pictures.

[Andrea Andrusewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book for early learning children. It has a fish on each page with a number! It is good for children who are learning to count and learning about colors! The colors are very bright and positive!

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bold, vibrant illustrations are the star of this book, although the counting (add addition, if you read the "hidden" text...) element works well, too. Personally, I found the illustrations almost jarring in their vibrancy, but I can see the appeal to kids who love their bright colors.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brightly colored fish introduce young children to counting and basic addition in this fun and simple concept book. “A visual treat from start to finish.”--Booklist

Colorful fish to count - cute

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one felt very "Eric Carle" to me. I liked the spooky fish eyes

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a colorful counting book with fish.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid counting book with great pictures - used for fish storytime 1/9/19