Fabulous fishes by Susan Stockdale

Working Title Press, 2013. ISBN 978 1 921504 55 6
(Age: 3+) Warmly recommended. Picture book. Fish. Rhyming text.
First published in the USA by author illustrator, Stockdale, in 2008, this brightly coloured and informative book will have an instant appeal to Australian students. With its 3 pages at the end giving detail about each of the in the text, the verses within will delight the younger reader. For parents and teachers reading with the children, the detail offered at the end will enhance the experience and make the children more aware of the variety of fish found around the world.
Each page shows a different variety of fish with a refrain about the fish passing by. A wide variety of fish is shown, from round fish, spotted fish, fish that have their own light source and fish with tails that curl around the seaweed. Each is shown in detail with astute children recognising the backgrounds in which these particular fish live.
The spiny fish on the cover is shown within its reef and colourful seaweed environment and the detail at the end of the book describes this fish as a Lionfish, which has sharp, venomous spines. When threatened it tuns its back to its enemies using the spines as a defense. Children will be delighted with this information and learn that it is found in the western Pacific, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The illustrations and information give about the spiny fish reflects the detail given to all the fish included in this lovely most useful book.
Fran Knight