by Deborah Diesen
Published by Farrar Straus Giroux
On March 18th, 2008
Genre: Children, Picture Books
Pages: 32
Source: purchased
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My grandson and I had so much fun reading The Pout-Pout Fish. The Little Monkey is just three so his attention span is as long as a gnats, but with The Pout-Pout Fish he stayed engaged and interested. The illustrations are colorful in a muted way lending credence to the underwater scenario. The characters in the book from the clam to the squid to the pout-pout fish himself were so easy to create different voices for as their characters had so much, well, character.
I’m a pout-pout fish
With a pout-pout face,
So I spread the dreary-wearies
All over the place.
The rhyming story follows the pout-pout fish as all of his friends try to turn his frown upside down with their sage advice. It’s not until a mysterious silver fish gives the pout-pout fish a giant smooch that the he figures out he’s not a pout-pout fish but instead a kissy-kissy fish! It’s a great lesson about feelings and choosing to be happy rather than grumpy.
The Little Monkey
The Pout-Pout Fish picture book is perfect for ages 3 – 6/7. It was really funny when TLM and I tried to make our own pout-pout faces. Watching a three year old poke his lips out in a fake pout then breaking into peals of laughter will make the harshest pouty face go away, promise! The ending is a little weak and stilted but the characterizations, theme and definitely the illustrations make up for that.
Extra Activities: We made paper bag fish after reading the story and, TLM had so much fun making the fish we had to make three! One for his mommy, his daddy and himself! If you’re interested in more activities this Pinterest Board has several ideas for a variety of ages. I especially like the pout-pout fish mask and the kissy-kissy fish mask to go along with “what makes me grumpy” and “what turns that frown upside down.” The author Deborah Diesen has a thorough list of activities and additional recommendations.
Booking Mama shares Kid Lit ideas each Saturday through her Kid Konnection link up. Be sure to check out the other recommendations from great bloggers!