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A Fish Out of Water
A classic, comic easy reader about getting a pet!
In this beloved Beginner Book written by Mrs . Dr. Seuss (aka Helen Palmer), a young boy hilariously learns the consequences of not following instructions when he feeds too much to his goldfish—causing it to grow as big as a whale! With delightfully retro illustrations by P.D. Eastman ( Go, Dog. Go! ),
the message of the book—that getting a pet is a big responsibility—is as true today as it was when the book was published in 1961. Perfect for beginning readers and read-alouds—and anyone getting a pet, especially a fish—it's ideal for birthdays, holidays, and happy occasions of all kinds!
Launched in 1957 with The Cat in the Hat and written specifically for emergent readers, Beginner Books combine an exacting blend of simple words and fun pictures that encourage children to read—all by themselves.
"Comic pictures show how the fish rapidly outgrows its bowl, a vase, a cook pot, a bathtub."-- The New York Times.
In this beloved Beginner Book written by Mrs . Dr. Seuss (aka Helen Palmer), a young boy hilariously learns the consequences of not following instructions when he feeds too much to his goldfish—causing it to grow as big as a whale! With delightfully retro illustrations by P.D. Eastman ( Go, Dog. Go! ),
the message of the book—that getting a pet is a big responsibility—is as true today as it was when the book was published in 1961. Perfect for beginning readers and read-alouds—and anyone getting a pet, especially a fish—it's ideal for birthdays, holidays, and happy occasions of all kinds!
Launched in 1957 with The Cat in the Hat and written specifically for emergent readers, Beginner Books combine an exacting blend of simple words and fun pictures that encourage children to read—all by themselves.
"Comic pictures show how the fish rapidly outgrows its bowl, a vase, a cook pot, a bathtub."-- The New York Times.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published August 12, 1961
229 people are currently reading
23340 people want to read
About the author
Helen Marion Palmer
11 books13 followersHelen Marion Palmer Geisel (September 23, 1898 – October 23, 1967), known professionally as Helen Palmer, was an American actress and author and the wife of children's book writer Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel). Her most well known book is Do You Know What I'm Going To Do Next Saturday?, published in 1963. This book, along with two others — I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo (1962) and Why I Built the Boogle House (1964) — combined Ms. Palmer's stories with photographs by Lynn Fayman. The photographs in I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo were taken at the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, and featured children from the Francis Parker School in San Diego interacting with the zoo's animals and staff.
Palmer also expanded Dr. Seuss's short story Gustav the Goldfish into the book A Fish Out Of Water, which was illustrated by P.D. Eastman.
Palmer met her future husband at Oxford University. She had a profound influence on his life, including suggesting that he should be an artist rather than a professor. They married in 1926 and had no children together. She committed suicide in 1967, after a series of illnesses (including cancer) spanning 13 years. (wikipedia)
Palmer also expanded Dr. Seuss's short story Gustav the Goldfish into the book A Fish Out Of Water, which was illustrated by P.D. Eastman.
Palmer met her future husband at Oxford University. She had a profound influence on his life, including suggesting that he should be an artist rather than a professor. They married in 1926 and had no children together. She committed suicide in 1967, after a series of illnesses (including cancer) spanning 13 years. (wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 311 reviews
January 24, 2015
This is perhaps my most special read of this year. Why? Because this is the first book that my daughter, Shrija, read aloud to me.
As parents, we are used to reading to our kids but when the favour is returned, believe me it is an experience far sweeter than any other in this world!
The story is about a little boy who buys a fish as a pet and is warned not to overfeed it. However, children will remain children and do what they are specifically told not to do. So this boy feeds the fish more than is necessary and the fish starts growing big. What happens next to the boy and the fish is told in such a beautiful manner, with such wonderful illustrations that it made for a perfect read with my daughter.
However, the best part of the story was my daughter pausing after every page and explaining the story to me. I am one proud mother today and an extremely happy one too. Here's looking forward to some great buddy reads with my daughter in the future. :) :)
All five stars go to Shrija for making my day a perfect one :) :)
As parents, we are used to reading to our kids but when the favour is returned, believe me it is an experience far sweeter than any other in this world!
The story is about a little boy who buys a fish as a pet and is warned not to overfeed it. However, children will remain children and do what they are specifically told not to do. So this boy feeds the fish more than is necessary and the fish starts growing big. What happens next to the boy and the fish is told in such a beautiful manner, with such wonderful illustrations that it made for a perfect read with my daughter.
However, the best part of the story was my daughter pausing after every page and explaining the story to me. I am one proud mother today and an extremely happy one too. Here's looking forward to some great buddy reads with my daughter in the future. :) :)
All five stars go to Shrija for making my day a perfect one :) :)
September 9, 2017
When your parents ask you to not feed the fish much, for once, you should listen to their advice! Read it to see what happens when you don't follow the rules!
November 7, 2020
I found another book I read as a kid. I love that. As I read the story, it's like something tugging on memories and I start noticing details I remember thinking about as a kid. It's pretty cool.
It's easy to see the artwork of P. D. Eastman here. He has that surreal touch to things that makes magic.
A boy gets a fish at a pet store and the storeman tells him to only feed him a pinch or you never know what can happen. Of course the boy goes home and dumps all the food in the bowl at once. The fish eats it all and begins to grow like crazy. He has to find bigger and bigger containers until he has to call the storeman. What I like about his character is he is doing some crazy stuff at the end and the author never bothers to explain it. It is all mystery and things just all get fixed up. Today, everything has reason somehow. This is sort of refreshing.
It's a fun story that kids will still enjoy today.
It's easy to see the artwork of P. D. Eastman here. He has that surreal touch to things that makes magic.
A boy gets a fish at a pet store and the storeman tells him to only feed him a pinch or you never know what can happen. Of course the boy goes home and dumps all the food in the bowl at once. The fish eats it all and begins to grow like crazy. He has to find bigger and bigger containers until he has to call the storeman. What I like about his character is he is doing some crazy stuff at the end and the author never bothers to explain it. It is all mystery and things just all get fixed up. Today, everything has reason somehow. This is sort of refreshing.
It's a fun story that kids will still enjoy today.
May 19, 2016
When I was a kid, I always liked reading the “About the Author” blurb at the end of a book – probably the budding quizzer in me wanted every piece of available information. One of my favourite childhood books was A Fish Out of Water and my version had no such blurb – or if it did it was on a long-lost dust-jacket. So I’ve written one myself:
Maybe there was a reason there was no such blurb.
We’ll get to A Fish Out of Water shortly, but first a little more on Helen Palmer. In 1927, Helen married Theodore Geisel, known to friends as Ted, and later known to the world as Dr Seuss. Ted Geisel wanted to become a teacher but Helen, six years his senior, encouraged him to make a career from his artwork. She was his editor, advisor, business manager and inspiration. She co-founded the “Beginner Books” imprint - you’d recognise the Cat in the Hat logo – in 1957.
And yet, a decade later Helen was dead. Within a year of her suicide Dr Seuss remarried. His second wife, Audrey, is still alive and in her mid-90s continues to serve as president of Dr Seuss Enterprises. There seems little doubt that the younger Audrey provided a renewed inspiration for Dr Seuss, who was 64 when he married for the second time. His niece Peggy described Helen’s death as “her last and greatest gift to him”. Her suicide note speaks for itself:
She might have heard “failure, failure, failure” from every side, but few people have given the world more joy than Helen Palmer. She gave the world Dr Seuss. But for her prodding, he might never have gone beyond the cartoons he drew as a college student. And Helen Palmer’s name also lives on as an author herself.
But even there she remains in her husband’s giant shadow, for A Fish Out of Water in fact originated as a short story by Dr Seuss, titled Gustav the Goldfish. It was originally published in a magazine in 1950, with the trademark Seuss rhymes and illustrations. You can see a comparison here. A decade later, he gave Helen permission to revise the story to make it a suitable “Beginner Book”, which required a more basic vocabulary.
In hindsight, the absurd premise is pure Seuss. A boy buys a pet goldfish and, against the advice of the pet-store owner, overfeeds it. The fish quickly outgrows every vessel in which the boy tries to house it, until even the local swimming pool is becoming too small to hold it. At this point the pet-store owner, Mr Carp, dives with a mysterious toolbox and magically returns the fish to its original size.
The illustrations by P. D. Eastman – a protégé of Dr Seuss – bring a charming realism to the preposterous story. Eastman’s drawings are much truer to life than the zany art of Dr Seuss, and something about the realistic looking figures – the baffled policeman and the concerned fireman – make it easy for a child to put themselves in the position of the little boy, to think maybe this really could happen!
I had never heard of Gustav the Goldfish until researching this blog, and I don’t know if I’d have preferred the Seussian version as a kid or A Fish Out of Water. They each appeal in different ways. All I can say with certainty is that I loved A Fish Out of Water and that Helen Palmer, despite her tragic end, was no failure.
http://dadreads.blogspot.co.uk/2016/0...
Helen Palmer was born in New York in 1898. For 40 years she was married to Dr Seuss. They had no children – Helen was unable to. In later years she suffered from cancer and partial paralysis. For the last few years of Helen’s life, Dr Seuss was having an affair with the woman who would later become his second wife. In 1967 an ill, depressed and heartbroken Helen committed suicide by an overdose of barbiturates.
Maybe there was a reason there was no such blurb.
We’ll get to A Fish Out of Water shortly, but first a little more on Helen Palmer. In 1927, Helen married Theodore Geisel, known to friends as Ted, and later known to the world as Dr Seuss. Ted Geisel wanted to become a teacher but Helen, six years his senior, encouraged him to make a career from his artwork. She was his editor, advisor, business manager and inspiration. She co-founded the “Beginner Books” imprint - you’d recognise the Cat in the Hat logo – in 1957.
And yet, a decade later Helen was dead. Within a year of her suicide Dr Seuss remarried. His second wife, Audrey, is still alive and in her mid-90s continues to serve as president of Dr Seuss Enterprises. There seems little doubt that the younger Audrey provided a renewed inspiration for Dr Seuss, who was 64 when he married for the second time. His niece Peggy described Helen’s death as “her last and greatest gift to him”. Her suicide note speaks for itself:
"Dear Ted, What has happened to us? I don't know. I feel myself in a spiral, going down down down, into a black hole from which there is no escape, no brightness. And loud in my ears from every side I hear, 'failure, failure, failure...' I love you so much ... I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you ... My going will leave quite a rumor but you can say I was overworked and overwrought. Your reputation with your friends and fans will not be harmed ... Sometimes think of the fun we had all thru the years ..."
She might have heard “failure, failure, failure” from every side, but few people have given the world more joy than Helen Palmer. She gave the world Dr Seuss. But for her prodding, he might never have gone beyond the cartoons he drew as a college student. And Helen Palmer’s name also lives on as an author herself.
But even there she remains in her husband’s giant shadow, for A Fish Out of Water in fact originated as a short story by Dr Seuss, titled Gustav the Goldfish. It was originally published in a magazine in 1950, with the trademark Seuss rhymes and illustrations. You can see a comparison here. A decade later, he gave Helen permission to revise the story to make it a suitable “Beginner Book”, which required a more basic vocabulary.
In hindsight, the absurd premise is pure Seuss. A boy buys a pet goldfish and, against the advice of the pet-store owner, overfeeds it. The fish quickly outgrows every vessel in which the boy tries to house it, until even the local swimming pool is becoming too small to hold it. At this point the pet-store owner, Mr Carp, dives with a mysterious toolbox and magically returns the fish to its original size.
The illustrations by P. D. Eastman – a protégé of Dr Seuss – bring a charming realism to the preposterous story. Eastman’s drawings are much truer to life than the zany art of Dr Seuss, and something about the realistic looking figures – the baffled policeman and the concerned fireman – make it easy for a child to put themselves in the position of the little boy, to think maybe this really could happen!
I had never heard of Gustav the Goldfish until researching this blog, and I don’t know if I’d have preferred the Seussian version as a kid or A Fish Out of Water. They each appeal in different ways. All I can say with certainty is that I loved A Fish Out of Water and that Helen Palmer, despite her tragic end, was no failure.
http://dadreads.blogspot.co.uk/2016/0...
December 5, 2012
I find it hard to read this book without thinking about Helen Palmer Geisel's suicide, which came after Dr. Seuss' adultery with the woman who would become his second wife. At one point in the note she wrote, "I am too old and enmeshed in everything you do and are, that I cannot conceive of life without you," and I felt that sentiment when I read A Fish Out of Water last night.
Palmer (I'll stick with her chosen nom de plume from now on) took an old story of Seuss's -- a story he had abandoned -- and turned it into A Fish Out of Water. It is a quaint little story. Sorta cute. Sorta fun. Sorta moral. Yet it is easy to see why Seuss abandoned the idea. It doesn't go anywhere, and Palmer can't save it from itself.
There is only a hint of Seussian language, just a touch of his playful rhyming, and I can't help wondering if Palmer lifted that section from Seuss original. Regardless, what I saw (imagined) while reading this was a person, likely talented in her own right, intimately linked to one of the true greats in their field. She couldn't reach his level. Not ever. So there she was, completing his abandoned stories, feeling, however incorrectly, that she was only publishing her work because of her link to her husband, and feeling a failure, feeling unworthy.
I imagine it is similar to what EL James' husband must be feeling right about now. Here's a little piece of advice. No artist, in any discipline, should ever marry someone in their discipline. It leads to tragedy.
I can't see myself reading this story to Scoutie too often. Just the thought of it depresses me, but it is not bad. It is worth a read or two. Just don't keep anything I've written here in mind. Maybe I should put a meta-spoiler alert at the top of this?
One other thought ... who gets the royalties to Palmer's work? I wonder if it is Seuss' second wife. How depressing would that be?
Palmer (I'll stick with her chosen nom de plume from now on) took an old story of Seuss's -- a story he had abandoned -- and turned it into A Fish Out of Water. It is a quaint little story. Sorta cute. Sorta fun. Sorta moral. Yet it is easy to see why Seuss abandoned the idea. It doesn't go anywhere, and Palmer can't save it from itself.
There is only a hint of Seussian language, just a touch of his playful rhyming, and I can't help wondering if Palmer lifted that section from Seuss original. Regardless, what I saw (imagined) while reading this was a person, likely talented in her own right, intimately linked to one of the true greats in their field. She couldn't reach his level. Not ever. So there she was, completing his abandoned stories, feeling, however incorrectly, that she was only publishing her work because of her link to her husband, and feeling a failure, feeling unworthy.
I imagine it is similar to what EL James' husband must be feeling right about now. Here's a little piece of advice. No artist, in any discipline, should ever marry someone in their discipline. It leads to tragedy.
I can't see myself reading this story to Scoutie too often. Just the thought of it depresses me, but it is not bad. It is worth a read or two. Just don't keep anything I've written here in mind. Maybe I should put a meta-spoiler alert at the top of this?
One other thought ... who gets the royalties to Palmer's work? I wonder if it is Seuss' second wife. How depressing would that be?
November 22, 2014
In this humorous book, a little boy buys a fish from a pet store. The boy overfeeds his fish. The fish grows and grows and grows.
May 17, 2023
Just like our government; Otto, the fish just got too big. The little boy did not listen when he was told "do not overfeed your fish".
November 5, 2012
I remember reading this many years ago when I was young. As we recent got some goldfish, and they always looked SO hungry (resulting in some overfeeding by the kids) this book popped into my mind and I looked it up and borrowed it from the library.
Bring a "I Can Read" book with the Dr. Suess logo, I was expecting it to be a little more rhymey than it was. But a cute, quick read, with darling illustrations.
... with a reminder to the kids that the story IS make believe, that a fish really wouldn't grow, the water would just get so dirty they might die.
Bring a "I Can Read" book with the Dr. Suess logo, I was expecting it to be a little more rhymey than it was. But a cute, quick read, with darling illustrations.
... with a reminder to the kids that the story IS make believe, that a fish really wouldn't grow, the water would just get so dirty they might die.
April 23, 2010
Just as I remembered.
June 18, 2016
Fun and highly original story, it emphasizes in a funny way the importance of following directions.
January 21, 2016
Dr. Seuss's first wife, Helen Palmer, wrote this story about a little boy who feeds his fish more than the shop keeper told him to feed him. The fish grows and grows. The boy has to call for help to stop the growth.
June 25, 2013
I would rate this 10 stars if i could!!! This was my mum's favorite book when she was little. And when I was little I thought this was a real story so I was always careful when I was feeding my fish!;-P
February 4, 2020
This is a cute story about overfeeding a fish and the imagination behind the writing is amazing.
June 22, 2022
One of my childhood favorites! Just read to my grandson!
January 9, 2023
Still funny after all these years.
April 19, 2015
Sometimes the professional is right
4 August 2013
This story is about a boy who buys himself a fish and then proceeds to ignore the advise of the pet shop store owner (ironically, or not so ironically, named Mr Carp), succumbs to the guilt trip that the fish lays upon him, and feeds the fish the whole box of fish food. Well, he should have listened to the professional advice because the fish then begins to grow at a rapid rate and nobody knows what to do about it, until Mr Carp comes along and does something that makes the fish small again.
This is a silly book, but it is probably about how we should listen to professionals because, well, they are professionals. Okay, there is a lot of silly and unbelievable aspects to this book. First of all, you cannot put any fish into a swimming pool (unless the fish is salt water and the swimming pool is a salt water swimming pool, though I suspect that the salt concentration is higher than that in the ocean) because the chlorine will kill the fish. Even then, I have a feeling that the amount of time that this fish was out of water would no doubt have killed him.
However, that is all irrelevant because this is a kid's book and is designed to have an amusing story that will appeal to the children and also teach them a lesson (and that is listen to professionals because they don't tell you things just because they are a professional – well, not always, but that is a whole separate topic for another time). However, I think we also need to have some discernment because not all professionals are right (as people have discovered during the Global Financial Crisis) and that sometimes they are only out for themselves and are more than willing to take your money in that regards. However, that is getting a bit too much for this particular book, because we are dealing with fish and what we should feed it. As such, if somebody tells us not to feed a dog chocolate then, I guess, we probably shouldn't be feeding the dog chocolate.
4 August 2013
This story is about a boy who buys himself a fish and then proceeds to ignore the advise of the pet shop store owner (ironically, or not so ironically, named Mr Carp), succumbs to the guilt trip that the fish lays upon him, and feeds the fish the whole box of fish food. Well, he should have listened to the professional advice because the fish then begins to grow at a rapid rate and nobody knows what to do about it, until Mr Carp comes along and does something that makes the fish small again.
This is a silly book, but it is probably about how we should listen to professionals because, well, they are professionals. Okay, there is a lot of silly and unbelievable aspects to this book. First of all, you cannot put any fish into a swimming pool (unless the fish is salt water and the swimming pool is a salt water swimming pool, though I suspect that the salt concentration is higher than that in the ocean) because the chlorine will kill the fish. Even then, I have a feeling that the amount of time that this fish was out of water would no doubt have killed him.
However, that is all irrelevant because this is a kid's book and is designed to have an amusing story that will appeal to the children and also teach them a lesson (and that is listen to professionals because they don't tell you things just because they are a professional – well, not always, but that is a whole separate topic for another time). However, I think we also need to have some discernment because not all professionals are right (as people have discovered during the Global Financial Crisis) and that sometimes they are only out for themselves and are more than willing to take your money in that regards. However, that is getting a bit too much for this particular book, because we are dealing with fish and what we should feed it. As such, if somebody tells us not to feed a dog chocolate then, I guess, we probably shouldn't be feeding the dog chocolate.
December 9, 2011
1. Controlled Vocabulary
2. A little boy learns a hard lesson when he doesn’t listen to the pet shop owner and feeds his fish too much! Who knows what can happen if you don’t follow directions!
3. Critique:
a. The strength of this book is the simple presentation and limited word use to get the story across.
b. By using charming pictures and a limited vocabulary, the book becomes a great one for early readers who are still getting used to recognizing and reading words. This way of writing is almost lost on the reader, however, because of the engaging, funny tale about a fish that just keeps getting bigger! I have no doubt that any child would be completely engrossed in the cute story and be reading it on their own before long.
c. The light rhyme scheme of the book keep the text flowing, but still simple by rhyming words like “lot, spot, and not.” The reader will quickly recall the story because it is so much fun, but in the process he or she will begin to recognize basic vocabulary.
4. A preschool or kindergarten class would be a great place to introduce this book as a read aloud because the students could begin to see these commonly used words and hear them used as well. Little kids will get a kick out of a fish in a bathtub, but will also begin to understand the use of simple, everyday words.
2. A little boy learns a hard lesson when he doesn’t listen to the pet shop owner and feeds his fish too much! Who knows what can happen if you don’t follow directions!
3. Critique:
a. The strength of this book is the simple presentation and limited word use to get the story across.
b. By using charming pictures and a limited vocabulary, the book becomes a great one for early readers who are still getting used to recognizing and reading words. This way of writing is almost lost on the reader, however, because of the engaging, funny tale about a fish that just keeps getting bigger! I have no doubt that any child would be completely engrossed in the cute story and be reading it on their own before long.
c. The light rhyme scheme of the book keep the text flowing, but still simple by rhyming words like “lot, spot, and not.” The reader will quickly recall the story because it is so much fun, but in the process he or she will begin to recognize basic vocabulary.
4. A preschool or kindergarten class would be a great place to introduce this book as a read aloud because the students could begin to see these commonly used words and hear them used as well. Little kids will get a kick out of a fish in a bathtub, but will also begin to understand the use of simple, everyday words.
September 26, 2011
This is a cute picture book for primary readers. It’s about a little boy who buys a fish called Otto and the man at the pet store, Mr Carp, warns him not to feed Otto more than a little bit. The boy ends up feeding Otto more than he was told and Otto grows and grows till he finally has to be moved to a pool, and Mr Carp comes over to make Otto small again, we just don’t know how he did it. The simplistic colors in the line drawings might not grab kids attention, but the cleverness of the drawings might. When the boy is on the phone there are two circles, one with the boy and the other with Mr Carp almost like a split screen. The thing is they don’t quite stay in their circles, their head, or hand might pop out of them which just adds a clever little detail. Every child should be able to think of a time where they made a mistake like the boy in the story which makes it relatable. In a class room each child could even share a story about a mistake they once made. It’s amazing the silly stories that happen in real life. Otto’s story could never happen, but sometimes fact really is stranger than fiction.
December 6, 2014
A Fish Out of Water, by Helen Palmer, is about a young boy who gets a first pet which is a fish. Mr. Carp, the fish salesman, told the boy only to feed his fish a pinch of food or something will happen. But then one day the little boy does feed the fish too much, and something does happen! What do you think could possibly happen? Think about it, but you must read this book yourself, or which your children, to find out what does happen!
I remember reading this book all the time when I was younger! It has such a crazy plot-twist that gets children hyped up as they read it because none of them have seen anything like it. It teaches a lesson to take care of your pets if you have any and to always give them the appropriate amounts of fuel. While this book doesn't necessarily give exact pointers of how to care for a fish, it does show children what can happen if they don't follow directions, because taking care of another living thing is a big deal. I recommend this book!
I remember reading this book all the time when I was younger! It has such a crazy plot-twist that gets children hyped up as they read it because none of them have seen anything like it. It teaches a lesson to take care of your pets if you have any and to always give them the appropriate amounts of fuel. While this book doesn't necessarily give exact pointers of how to care for a fish, it does show children what can happen if they don't follow directions, because taking care of another living thing is a big deal. I recommend this book!
January 26, 2014
This book starts off with a boy going to get a fish from Mr. Carp. Mr. Carp explained to the boy what to do and how much food the little fish needed. Well the little boys doesn't listen and his fish grows big. He grows so big that the boy had to find him a new home. The fish didn't fit in pots or flower bowls. The fish had to be taken to a pool and there Mr. Carp fixed the fish and told the boy how he didn't follow the rules and his fish got so big. From there the boy didn't disobey. I enjoyed reading this book because its correct we all disobey at some point and then learn from our mistakes. If we don't make a mistake we as humans will never grow. This is good for young children to reflection on and follow the directions.
April 28, 2015
A charming little story of a boy who did not follow his teacher's directions and ends up in a big mess. The little boy gets a fish and is told to only feed him one pinch. The boy loves his fish and wants him to have al the food he wants, so he feeds him the whole jar of food! The fish grows and grows. Firefighters, police officers, all sorts of people come to help him. Mr. Carp ends up coming back to save the day. This is a nice lesson on following directions and listening to adults. This book would be appropriate for children in grades pre-K through 1st.
March 15, 2016
This is one of my 2 year old son's favorites. I remember loving it as a child as well. This story goes from simply "not following directions properly" to totally out of control fish growth. The unnamed hero of our story bravely tries to save his ever-growing fish that he fed too much by transferring him from one container to another until he ends up in a swimming pool. Finally he calls the fish store owner for help.
January 24, 2016
This is a great story for children about the consequences of not following adults' directions and appropriately asking for help when facing such consequences. The way the main character loves and cares about his pet fish despite a harmful decision sets a good example for children and parents alike. The prose is simple and articulate with charming rhyming.
May 17, 2020
This story is about a little fish grows to big.
Because the boy feeds him too much.
I think the boy’s name might be Blake. It’s not in the book.
I liked that Mr Carp made the fish again.
I read this aloud to Nanna.
Recommended for Nannies and Mummy and other kids 5 years or more.
Read and reviewed by Tina aged 5 years in Prep.
Because the boy feeds him too much.
I think the boy’s name might be Blake. It’s not in the book.
I liked that Mr Carp made the fish again.
I read this aloud to Nanna.
Recommended for Nannies and Mummy and other kids 5 years or more.
Read and reviewed by Tina aged 5 years in Prep.
December 1, 2012
I loved loved loved this book when I was a wee child. A boy feeds his pet goldfish too much and it grows to an unmanageably large size. Recently donated and added to our collection at Kailua Public Library!
September 26, 2016
This book doesn't rhyme, which most children's books do...I was a little disappointed.
Love the illustrations (guy who wrote/illustrated Go Dog Go).
Overall the book just doesn't make a lot of sense. The LO is obsessed with fish so it works.
Love the illustrations (guy who wrote/illustrated Go Dog Go).
Overall the book just doesn't make a lot of sense. The LO is obsessed with fish so it works.
August 6, 2017
This book is read every single night in my house. So I'm counting it.
September 30, 2017
Thank goodness for Mr. Carp!
June 17, 2022
This was so friggen cute and funny! A boy buys a fish and is told to only feed it a little bit at a time. He doesn't listen, and the fish grows and grows and grows. Maybe it's because I have a cold and my voice goes one octave higher and lower right now but it made for a really fun read-aloud with the boy, the police officer, the fireman, all panicking trying to find bigger bodies of water to hold the fish. Too cute.
December 25, 2024
I think of this as an early favorite. But it is a long time since I last read it. It starts out and quickly I'm thinking the movie Gremlins, which kind of has the feel of an echo. I didn't expect that this book would make me laugh. Sure it doesn't make sense. But it has a pretty good through story. And stays fun to the end. It does have that early favorite where the bit I like is the bit in my own head.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 311 reviews