Philip C. Stead

When little Amy Scott takes the goldfish her parents gave her as a birthday gift and dumps him in the ocean, bowl and all, a boy named Sherman alerts his friend Sadie, and together they embark on an extraordinary voyage to rescue the abandoned piscine companion. Ellsworth - every fish deserves a proper name, explains Sadie - may not know it, but he has some redoubtable champions in these two children, who not only rescue him, but make sure he has a proper home...

A follow up to author Philip show more C. Stead and illustrator Matthew Cordell's Special Delivery, which chronicled Sadie's extraordinary efforts to deliver an elephant to her great-aunt, The Only Fish In the Sea pairs a similarly heartwarming tale with quirky, humorous illustrations. Sadie is a wonderful little captain, and Sherman a worthy first mate, and their kindness in tracking down Ellsworth stands in stark contrast to Amy Scott's thoughtless cruelty. The story here reminded me a bit of an incident I witnessed once at work, in which a magician, hired to work at a Harry Potter event, left behind a school of goldfish he had used in one of his magic tricks, with instructions to flush them down the toilet. For him, these tiny living things were disposable, and having used them, he had no more thought for them, or any responsibility he might have toward them. Sadly, we didn't have the proper facilities to care for the fish, and only one of the eight survived until we could provide a better environment than a shallow plastic bowl. Stead's narrative reminded me a bit of Pippin (our fish) in this regard, and his experience being dumped as so much refuse.

Leaving aside that personal recollection, this is one that I would recommend to anyone who read and enjoyed the earlier book about Sadie, as well as to those looking for picture-books about the humane treatment of our animal companions. show less

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher for promotional purposes.

This was such a cute and fun middle grade book!

The story was so creative. It was told out of order (it started at chapter thirteen) but was not confusing at all. The chapters were all clearly labeled so you knew where you were. The story reminded me of Alice in Wonderland because of how nonsensical and outrageous it was. For example, the castle was built on top of goats which obviously makes no logical show more sense, but that’s the genius of it. The book fully leaned into its absurdity and that made it work so well. The king in the story also reminded me of the Queen of Hearts because of his self centered attitude.

I loved the main character, Bernadette. I was happy to see things work out for her in the end.

The book also has illustrations throughout as well as full page character illustrations at the very beginning. All the pictures made the book feel so immersive. It made it so easy to visualize the story.

The endpapers of the book were the map that Bernadette receives from Clarence, the tollbooth owner. I thought that was a cute touch. I loved that the map was from his perspective because there was a lot to discover in the story and the map didn’t give anything away. The map also highlighted the ridiculousness of the story.

Overall, I had a blast reading this book. If you like silly and outlandish fantasy reads, I highly recommend this one! show less

Amos McGee takes his time. His routine is simple, and his friendships are true. When he gets a cold and doesn’t show up for his job as a zookeeper, his animals notice. They make a trip to his house to pay back the kindness he shows them every day. Erin Stead garnered a well-earned Caldecott for her work on Amos McGee; the shy, faded illustrations give this book the same personality as its main character: simple, sincere, sweet. Observant readers will find plenty of illustrated details that show more help them get to know Amos beyond the text.

By reflecting an element of Amos’s personality in each of the zoo animals, author Philip Stead manages more profound character development in 32 pages than most writers can achieve in as many chapters. By the time you close the book, you will have fallen in love with Amos McGee and his friends. And that’s okay – this is a book to savor; so go ahead, flip back to the beginning and take another amble with Amos. show less

An author/illustrator not having an idea turns into its own idea in this meandering story of Stead's walk with his dog, Wednesday. The art is made with monoprint techniques and collage, including Polaroid photos.

"How are things?"
"I have to write a story today."
"Wonderful!"
"But I don't have any ideas."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. Ideas are all around."

And they are.