“The hagfish is a fish with no spine!” McCloskey’s artwork also reflects the book’s push-and-pull relationship between facts and fun: the featured fish are often painted in realistic detail (six opening pages offer an A to Z tour of 26 distinctive fish, including a true-to-its name footballfish, a glum-looking monkeyface prickleback, and a slightly nightmarish viperfish. “ Almost all fish!” squawks a green parrot that appears in most scenes. Two elementary school age children serve as guides, sharing details about fish, but the hashtag #notallfish could easily apply: when the children explain that fish have scales and bones, and that they breathe through gills, these facts are quickly qualified. Like McCloskey’s We Dig Worms! and The Real Poop on Pigeons!, this overview of fish big and small (mostly small) takes an irreverent approach to its subject.
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