An absurdly laugh-out-loud funny picture book about the villainy of fish, illustrated by National Book Award-winning creator Dan Santat
"A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on." —Kirkus, starred reviewWhy, dear reader, must you NEVER EVER trust fish?
1) They spend all their time in the water where we can’t see them.
2) Some are as big as a bus—that is
not okay.
3) We don't know what they're teaching in their "schools."
4) They are likely plotting our doom.
This nature-guide-gone-wrong is a hilarious, off-the-rails exploration of the seemingly innocent animals that live in the water.
On sale: April 8, 2025
Age: 3-7 years
Grade: Preschool - 2
Page count: 40 Pages
ISBN: 9780593616673
Reading level: Lexile: AD470L | Fountas/Pinnell: O
Neil Sharpson lives in Dublin with his wife and their two children. Having written for theater since his teens, Neil transitioned to writing novels in 2017, adapting his play
The Caspian Sea into
When The Sparrow Falls. A huge fan of animation, Neil writes
Unshaved Mouse, a comedic review blog mostly focusing on animated film and comic book movies.
Dan Santat is a #1
New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of over a hundred books, including the National Book Award winning graphic memoir
A First Time for Everything. His picture book
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend received the Caldecott Medal. He also illustrated
The Blur, Lift, and
Drawn Together, both written by Minh Lê, which received critical acclaim. Dan is also the creator of the Disney animated hit
The Replacements. He lives in Southern California with his family.
Kids’ Indie Next Pick★ "[A] rapid-fire comedy of piscine paranoia."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review★ "A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on."
—Kirkus, starred review★ "With exceptional timing in a dry comic voice, veteran playwright and novelist Sharpson's picture-book debut is immersively silly fun, while award winner Santat's always-superb art lands at every possible visual punch line."
—Booklist, starred review
★ “Sharpson and Santat's co-creation is a symbiotic marvel.”
—Shelf Awareness, starred review★ “Wonderfully hilarious…
Don’t Trust Fish is an educational and highly entertaining delight, sure to inspire interest in oceanography and ichthyology—and lots of rereads.”
—BookPage, starred review“Consider a book that makes everybody, and I do mean everybody, laugh from the cover onwards. THAT, my friends, is a picture book worth celebrating! That is a rarity! That… is
Don’t Trust Fish.”
—Betsy Bird, Fuse #8, School Library Journal“Starting from an already comedic premise, this story goes gleefully off the rails, moving from funny to absolutely and wonderfully absurd, helped along by illustrations that build on jokes in previous spreads.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
