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Fiction - Animals - Marine Life, Poetry - Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes & Fingerplays, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous
The Fish Who Cried Wolf by Brooke β€” book cover

The Fish Who Cried Wolf

by Brooke, Axel Scheffler
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Overview

From the award-winning team behind ROOM ON THE BROOM -- a very fishy story about very fishy stories!

The little fish Tiddler comes late to school every day, but always with an elaborate excuse that entrances his classmates -- and annoys his teacher! One day, as he's thinking up his next story, a net sweeps him up and hauls him far away. How will Tiddler find his way home? All he has to do is follow the trail of his biggest, fishiest story yet!

For every parent or teacher who knows the boundless creativity of a perpetually late child, this book shows how to channel that energy into stories to be shared with friends and family. With a bouncy, bubbling rhyme . . .

Synopsis

The little fish Tiddler comes late to school every day, but always with an elaborate excuse that entrances his classmates -- and annoys his teacher! One day, as he's thinking up his next story, a net sweeps him up and hauls him far away. How will Tiddler find his way home? All he has to do is follow the trail of his biggest, fishiest story yet!

For every parent or teacher who knows the boundless creativity of a perpetually late child, this book shows how to channel that energy into stories to be shared with friends and family. With a bouncy, bubbling rhyme . . .

. . . and vibrant undersea illustrations, THE FISH WHO CRIED WOLF is sure to become the next read-aloud favorite from the bestselling author-illustrator team behind THE GRUFFALO and ROOM ON THE BROOM.

Children's Literature

Tiddler is a plain little gray fish with a big imagination. Whenever he is late for school (everyday), he tells a tall tale to explain his whereabouts. On one day he says he was riding a seahorse, another he was locked in a treasure chest until rescued by a mermaid, and still another that he was captured by squid and rescued by a turtle. All the fish know they are just stories and to each fib they reply " Oh no he didn't" and Tiddler emphatically says "OH YES HE DID." Little Johnny Dory loves Tiddler's excuses and he tells each one to his grandmother, who tells it to a plaice, who tells it to a starfish, who tells it to a seal, who tells it to a lobster. One Wednesday, little Tiddler is caught in a fishermen's net and tossed back into the sea because he is just too small. Alone and frightened he hears a story that he knows and follows the thread of that story backwards, eventually coming to the lobster, the seal, the starfish, the plaice, and Johnny Dory's grandmother. He arrives at school just as the day is ending and does he have a tale to tell. And do they believe him? No they do not but Johnny Dory does and he tells a writer friend and he "wrote it down for you." Fresh life is breathed into this fable with a perfect undersea setting. Scheffler has pulled out all the stops, executing a video ocean of fish, flora, and fauna all perfectly detailed and brimming with life. The buoyant text with its brisk refrain that children will love to join in on makes a perfect one-on-one share or pair with Gilbert in Deep by Jane Clarke (Sterling 2007) for a story time read aloud about undersea loss and rescue. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey

Reviews

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Beverley Fahey

Tiddler is a plain little gray fish with a big imagination. Whenever he is late for school (everyday), he tells a tall tale to explain his whereabouts. On one day he says he was riding a seahorse, another he was locked in a treasure chest until rescued by a mermaid, and still another that he was captured by squid and rescued by a turtle. All the fish know they are just stories and to each fib they reply " Oh no he didn't" and Tiddler emphatically says "OH YES HE DID." Little Johnny Dory loves Tiddler's excuses and he tells each one to his grandmother, who tells it to a plaice, who tells it to a starfish, who tells it to a seal, who tells it to a lobster. One Wednesday, little Tiddler is caught in a fishermen's net and tossed back into the sea because he is just too small. Alone and frightened he hears a story that he knows and follows the thread of that story backwards, eventually coming to the lobster, the seal, the starfish, the plaice, and Johnny Dory's grandmother. He arrives at school just as the day is ending and does he have a tale to tell. And do they believe him? No they do not but Johnny Dory does and he tells a writer friend and he "wrote it down for you." Fresh life is breathed into this fable with a perfect undersea setting. Scheffler has pulled out all the stops, executing a video ocean of fish, flora, and fauna all perfectly detailed and brimming with life. The buoyant text with its brisk refrain that children will love to join in on makes a perfect one-on-one share or pair with Gilbert in Deep by Jane Clarke (Sterling 2007) for a story time read aloud about undersea loss and rescue. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey

Kirkus Reviews

A surprise ending and an undersea setting update this classic. The only big thing about little Tiddler is his imagination: Each day he dreams up a new tale to explain his tardiness. The other students call him on his outrageous fibs, but Little Johnny Dory loves Tiddler's stories and passes them on to his granny, who then tells them to her friends. But one day Tiddler has a real adventure and gets lost in the big ocean until he overhears a familiar story about the exploits of a fish named Tiddler. He follows his own stories from one sea creature to another, until he is back in familiar waters. And do his classmates believe this tale? Of course not. But Little Johnny Dory does. "He told it to a writer friend . . . who wrote it down for you." Tiddler's underwater world comes to life through Scheffler's highly saturated, detailed illustrations, which give his fish real personality while preserving their resemblance to their natural counterparts. Clever. (Picture book. 3-7)

Book Details

Published
May 1, 2008
Publisher
Scholastic, Inc.
Pages
40
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780439928250

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