Book Review: The Pout-Pout Fish

Written by: Deborah Diesen
Illustrated by: Dan Hanna
Farrar Straus & Giroux
Age 3-7

Deborah Diesen's The Pout-Pout Fish, with illustrations by Dan Hanna, is sure to leave pouters reconsidering their mood. With this debut offering from both author and illustrator, one is left knowing there will be more to come from both of them.

Pout-Pout thinks his grouchiness is genetic, determined by his enormous and "ever-present" pout. One by one, his ocean pals try to cheer him up, and each one is answered with the fish's weary refrain, "I'm a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face, so I spread the dreary-wearies all over the place."

Diesen's rhyme echoes the rhythm of rolling waves and the pouty references pour forth with cleverness. "Hey, Mr. Fish, you kaleidoscope of mope," says the squid. Talk about your alliterative insults! Finally, a mysterious silver fish enters the scene and delivers a life-altering surprise.

Hanna's beautifully imagined pictures and ocean inspired palette is an apt pairing with this unlikely fish story. The cartoonish style lends itself to the notion that perhaps, deep down, even Pout-Pout isn't taking himself too seriously. And with a lot of smooching at the end, this is bedtime reading at its best. Pouters take heart! Love does conquer all.