Leo Lionni's wonderful book about a smart little fish named "Swimmy" is a classic. Swimmy manages to save his new friends from the big fish of the sea by thinking creatively. It teaches kids about the power of imagination and the strength of community.

The illustrations from Lionni are phenomenal. Watercolors swirl together to form the ocean, doilies get transformed into seaweed, and little circles are made into coral. And Swimmy himself is iconic. He's just a plain, little, solid black fish who stands out in the almost transparent sea of tiny red fish. It's a great book to play "find that fish" with!

The story is wonderful, too. Lionni's vocabulary is diverse and challenging; words like "marvel," "fierce," "sugar-candy," and "swaying" are a delight to see in a young child's book.

For these reasons, and many more, Lionni remains a favorite of children everywhere. ( )

By finally getting the courage to branch out and explore other parts of the ocean and other fish and sea animals, one fish learned many things about diversity and the world. This book teaches that though one fish alone was too small to make much of a difference in a big ocean, that if a bunch of small fish worked together and became 'one big fish' in a sense, they would become much more noticeable and effective.

This represents a Realistic Fiction book because the story is true to life in that it happens in a setting that is real to the reader. It also represents a Modern Fantasy because it expresses ideas about make-believe things like the idea that fish don't really talk. This makes it known that the story would not be completely possible in real life. ( )

This is a good example of fantasy because the main character is a fish. Some truth is included such as the fact that the bigger, stronger fish pick on the small fish.

Media: collage ( )

Swimmy is a good example of modern fantasy because it tells the story of one fish who is different from the rest, and his journey to discover his purpose amongst all other ocean animals. Swimmy loses his red fish friends to a much larger fish. However, he later figures out a way to help save similar groups of red fish from the same fate. As previously mentioned, this story is set on the bottom of the ocean floor. The author's painted illustrations make this setting vibrant and colorful for the reader, inviting them to use their imagination in thinking about the real world under the sea.