The Pout-Pout Fish

April 1, 2008
PreS-Gr 1-A rhythmic, rhyming text introduces a fish with a mouth that turns down at the corners and a correspondingly gloomy attitude. One by one, his ocean-dwelling friends try to cheer him up, but he resists their efforts with a pessimistic, yet snappy refrain: "I'm a "pout-pout" fish/With a "pout-pout" face, /So I spread the dreary-wearies/All over the place." Finally, a mysterious female fish approaches and silently plants a kiss "upon his pout." He is instantly struck by the epiphany that he is actually a ""kiss-kiss" fish/With a kiss-kiss face/For spreading cheery-cheeries/All over the place!" and demonstrates his newfound outlook by smooching his friends. Though the bouncy rhythm is appealing, many of the rhymes are forced, and the poetry doesn't always scan. On the positive side, the cartoon illustrations of undersea life are bright and clean and the protagonist's exaggerated expressions are entertaining. The layout is attractive, and the three-panel sequences showing the fish moping around during the refrain are especially well done."Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, MD"

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