NYTimes Best Seller Picture Book Sequel: The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark

The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark Delights

It is a rare occasion when my husband raves about a picture book. He’s read his fair share of picture books to our three children but bedtime stories is my favorite time of the day, not his. And while he will read a book over and over again, there aren’t too many picture books in our house that he is excited to re-read.

So when he told ME to blog about this book because it’s GREAT, I have to say that I stood up at attention (figuratively as I was reclined in bed), and took note. This is why I think he liked it so much:

It rhymes. And it rhymes beautifully without losing its cadence somewhere in the story which is my pet peeve in life.
It has a particular part that repeats several times — when the Pout-Pout fish admits he is scared of the dark. My husband and youngest LOVED to say the first three lines loud and strong, and the scared-y cat part high and squeaky. They are just like that! But it cracked them up to no end! And this book helped my son because he, too, is afraid of the dark.
There are several great messages woven into the book: being a good friend, overcoming your fears, and being helpful.
There is also an oceanography lesson built-in. (My husband grew up in Monterey, California and though I actually took Ichthyology (the study of fish!) in college, he knows way more about marine biology than I do just from osmosis). He noticed that the sea creatures changed appropriately as the fish swam deeper into the ocean. I actually learned about the different levels of the sea from Dr. Seuss’s Wish on a Fish: All About Sea Creatures myself and also appreciated the weird and crazy-looking fish at the bottom of the ocean in the trench.
His only criticism was that he didn’t love the illustrations by Dan Hanna. They are ok; not terrible but just not Caldecott worthy. That’s a shame because this a New York Times best-selling author!

This is the first book that I’ve read by Deborah Diesen but I am so impressed that I’m going to find her other books.