Louis the Fish

Maurice Sendak greeted teh publication of the first book by this unique author-and-artist team with an astonishing review in The New York Times Book Review, which began: "Sid and Sol is a wonder—a picture book that heralds a hopeful, healthy flicker of life in what is becoming a creatively exhausted genre. The magic rests in teh seamless bond of Arthur Yorinks's and Richard Egielski's deft and exciting collaboration." Sendak concluded his review with an enthusiastic "Welcom, Mr. Yorinks and Mr. Egielski!" Now Louis the Fish, their second picture book, not only fulfills the promise of the first, but amply surpasses it.

Louis is a butcher. He has a nice shop on Flatbush, with steady customers. He's "always friendly, always helpful, a wonderful guy." But Louis is not happy. He hates meat!

All his life he's been surrounded by meat. His grandfather was a butcher. His father was a butcher. His whole childhood, even his birthdays, revolved aournd meat. As a boy he tried anythign to escape—even a job after school cleaning fishtanks.

But that doesn't last long. Louis soon has to take over his parents' butcher shop. He grows ill. Business begins to fail. All seems lost. Until on night, in fitful sleep, after uneasy dreams, Louis is changed in a profound and startling way and begins a happy new life.

A shoe salesman who wakes up one morning without his head roams the city of Pinsk in search of his most prized possession.

"'One day last spring, Louis, a butcher, turned into a fish. Silvery scales. Big lips. A tail. A salmon'...Yorinks and Egielski work together as if they were one. Their joint pacing and a variety of verbal and visual viewpoints make Louis the Fish an outstanding and refreshingly unusual picture book." —Starred, School Library Journal

Publishers Weekly

Louis, a man who has been pushed into the butcher business by his well-meaning parents, hates meat and loves fish. One day Louis wakes up and he's a salmona very happy salmon. In PW's words, ``Imaginative, full-color paintings are tuned into the odyssey. The dizzy doings provoke laughter, but the story also serves as a parable on the importance of being yourself.'' (3up)

ARTHUR YORINKS has collaborated with Richard Egielski on nine picture books, including the Caldecott Medal winning Hey, Al as well as joining with Maurice Sendak and Matthew Reinhart to produce the 2006 bestseller Mommy. He is also the founder and director of the Night Kitchen Radio Theater and has written and directed for opera, theater, dance, and film. Arthur lives in New York City.

RICHARD EGIELSKI won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in Hey, Al and has written and illustrated many other books for children including Buz and Jazper, both New York Times Best Illustrated Books. Richard lives in New Jersey, with his wife and son.