The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School-a great rhyming good night book

The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School is the fourth book in the series of a fish trying to find his way.   Sometimes he’s a little grumpy or just doesn’t know what to make of these new situations.  It reminds a little bit of I Am So Brave, except longer with most of the words rhyming and repeating.  It’s also immediately catchy.  It took me one reading of The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School to enjoy it and understand how and why it would be enjoyable to our children.

The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School rhymes is a way that is similar to Luka Lashes.  The longest sentences are about 20 words and broken up into two, rhyming halves.  On the other pages the sentences are broken up over two pages.

This set up is our perfect criteria for a good night book.  The sentences are short, the pictures are cute and it’s a book that tells a story or teaches a lesson.

In this case the Pout Pout fish is going to his first day of school.  He gets lost in the flow of things and goes into a couple classrooms where he tries to do the class work, but ultimately can’t. His handwriting, shapes and math aren’t at the same level as everyone else in the class.

Just when he is about to forget it and leave, his teacher, Mrs. Hewitt stops him and says that she knows that he can do it!  That type of rhyming is super cute, everywhere in the book and effective without being annoying as some sing-songy children’s books can be.  It’s one of the reasons why you’ll grab The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School as one of their good night books.

The art work by Dan Hanna is also nice.  It’s soft and precise, with all of the fish having a warm appearance.  Initially the art work, specifically the colors and softness of them, reminded of some of the classic children’s books we read as a child.  Danny and the Dinosaur comes to mind as a soul sister to The Pout Pout Fish.  Granted the content and attitude of the lead characters are different, but the art is similar and cut from the same cloth.