Ugly Fish

LaReau, Kara. Ugly Fish. Illustrated by Scott Magoon. Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 9780152050825. $16.00. Ages 3 to 7.

“I am Ugly Fish,” said Ugly Fish. “And there’s only room for one fish in this tank—ME!” The writers of “Ugly Fish” tackle a major problem dealing with kids today in this fun, reality based cartoon scenario, of a fish eating all the new fish introduced in his tank. Eventually he becomes lonely and then inevitably in the end gets a taste of his own medicine. This creative, rhythmic story is written to show children an example of what bullying can do. The pen and ink drawings are comical, and with simply some digital coloring the characters pop off the pages. This is a fun story about how kindness matters and understanding that what goes around comes around!

Jamie Watson, BGSU student