One Small Fish

By Joanne Ryder

Book Overview

Time moves so SLOW on a Friday afternoon in science class. Then one bored student stares into a fish tank and WHOOSH--waves rise higher and higher until the classroom sinks like a ship in a shining... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688070590
• ISBN13: 9780688070595
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 5 years and up
• Grade Range: Kindergarten and higher

Customer Reviews

Book Equivalent of Disneyland's Submarine Voyage!

Joanne Ryder and illustrator Carol Schwartz have created a magical book for children from toddler to grade school age. The narrative is adapted from a poem, "Inside the Science Lab," that Ryder wrote in 1981, and the text retains a very poetic feeling. The subtle rhymes, assonances, and alliterations are enchanting to read and soothing to hear: On Friday afternoon we file into the science room and find our seats among the plants, among the tanks of lizards, insects, snakes and fish. If I wanted to teach poetry to youngsters, I might begin with this, the very first sentence of "One Small Fish." Schwartz works wonders with her gradual melding of a classroom with the ocean and its creatures. A room with a single aquarium is transformed into a kind of gigantic classroom/aquarium, teeming with exotic fish, crabs, sharks, and eels. Octopi turning book pages with their tentacles sea horses play near the teacher's head, and the narrator rides with dolphins, "slipping between the coats that hang like seaweed on the walls." Words and pictures combine for maximal effect, a large school of fish is pictured dashing through an open door, and Ryder uses gerunds like "darting," "racing," and "shooting" to describe the action. With all this excitement, the book retains a tone of awe; the fish are either friendly or, at least, benign. Again, the words help this effect, some passages recall haiku imagery and sensibility. Schwartz's colors are bright but not overpowering, and her depictions of shimmering jellyfish, soft, undulating eels, and those page-turning octopi convey a rhythm of their own. Only the briefly seen shark seems a bit uninspired. This is one of those rare books that will appeal to a wide age range. It's appropriate for those old enough to read, those who can't read but can follow a spoken story, and to those who will just enjoy the wondrous setting and pictures. Highly recommended.

A Daydream Brought to Life

Remember when you were a child and you use to daydream during class, well the author, Joanne Ryder, brings this all to life. A school girl around the age of 9 is sitting in science class daydreaming, and you get to experince her daydream. After reading the story, it makes you wonder if it really was a daydream. The illustrator Carol Schwartz really protrays the actions going on well. Any child will enjoy this book, I know mine did, I have read it so much, I know it by heart