The Pout-Pout Fish and the Bully-Bully Shark
By Deborah Diesen
Illustrated by Dan Hanna
I could not wait to get my hands on this book. We love the Pout-Pout Fish in our house and when we heard there was a new one coming out I am not sure who was more excited for the book to arrive, me or my kids. This book did not disappoint. It is written in the same sing-song rhythm as the other Pout-Pout Fish books, which I find makes the reading more enjoyable. There is also some repetition which allows my kids, five and two years old, to join in on the reading, which they really love to do.
I find the topic of bullying difficult to talk to my kids about. I want to be a mama bear and protect my children at all costs, but I also want them to learn to protect themselves. I don’t like to label children as bullies because it is often that they just don’t yet possess the skills to interact well with others. This book might be the perfect book to talk about bullying. It does a beautiful job at giving a description to the way it feels to be bullied.
It gives the power to the child to stop the bullying. Mr. Fish does not run to a teacher or a parent to solve the situation, instead, he stands up for himself and his friends. My favorite part in the book is when Mr. Fish confronts the bully and says: “Bully isn’t who you are but it is what you have done.” I love that Mr. Fish doesn't classify the person, instead, he classifies the actions of the person. This book is one of my new favorites. I can’t remember the last time a read a child’s book that so perfectly captured feelings and actions. I am sending it to school with my daughter for her classroom and purchasing another one for our house.
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