Something's Fishy.(Orca Echoes). Jeff Szpirglas & Danielle Saint-Onge. Illustrated by Dave Whamond. Victoria, BC: Orca, 2011. 55 pp., pbk., $6.95. ISBN 978-1-55469-787-8. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by John Dryden. ***½ /4 Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy.

excerpt:

Jamie loved sharks. He owned three T shirts with sharks on them. He slept in shark pajamas. He always checked shark books out of the library. Last summer his parents took him on a road trip to the ocean. Jamie found a shark's tooth on the beach. He had brought it to school for show and tell four times already.

Something's Fishy is an energetic short novel that shares the experience of a class that is getting a pet and a student who kills the first one and replaces it with another. In this class, there is a shark lover named Jamie. Jamie happens to have a personality that the rest of the class finds to be very overbearing. Jamie is often calling out and, of course, his comments are always related to sharks. When his teacher gets the class a pet fish, Jamie is extremely excited and seems to be the luckiest student in the world when his teacher selects his name to look after the fish for the first week. Unfortunately, Jamie overfeeds the fish, and, in his hilarious effort to filter out all the excess fish food, he kills it. He then proceeds to replace the animal with a lizard, and the class is able to move on.

     This book was refreshing to read and will surely entertain and surprise young readers. The content is written well, and children will easily be able to relate to their own classrooms and classroom experiences. The illustrations were interesting to look at and offered excellent visuals to add to the Jamie character. The author's experience as a teacher is evident and realistic. The portrayal of the Jamie character is excellent. Something's Fishy will be an excellent addition to a school or classroom library.

Highly Recommended.

John Dryden is a teacher-librarian and grade 5/6 teacher in BC's Cowichan Valley.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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