Trick or Treat, Pout-Pout Fish

August 1, 2016
It’s Halloween, and an unseen narrator wonders if Diesen and Hanna’s characteristically glum-looking Mr. Fish might be among the trick-or-treaters dropping by a leviathan-shaped submarine: “Who’s that ghost?/ Is it you, Mr. Fish?/ Maybe you’re the goblin/ With tails that swish!” None of them are Mr. Fish (he’s dressed as a pirate captain inside the sub), and in the story’s funniest moment, readers encounter a sea dweller dressed as the pout-pout fish himself (“Is it you in the mask?/ What a funny frowny face!”). While Mr. Fish’s existing fans will best appreciate this story, Diesen’s lively rhymes and Hannah’s wittily detailed art make this an entertaining outing for newcomers, too. Up to age 3.