Mister Seahorse

DADS! WE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU, LITTLE FISH! I LOVE DADS! And I love how Mr. Seahorse spends this whole book going around telling other dads what a good job they're doing, like dudes should.

I enjoyed this story a lot, Eric Carle is an amazing illustrator. I loved the use of the dad fish taking care of the children. Very colorful and contains interactive flaps!

This was a good story, but I did not like it as much as I had hoped I would. Eric Carle has a great technique for expressing his artwork and unique talent in his medium of expression, but I felt the story was lacking in comparison to his creative pictures. I did enjoy discovering different types of sea animal fathers that cared for their young, but I would have preferred to see how they care for their young. This would be a good way to introduce different types of animals to young readers, but I would have liked more details about the seahorse and the tilapia, as well as the other father animals.

I like the concept a lot, because it's great to show these sea creature dads caring for eggs. I knocked a star off because one of the fish dads says he's babysitting his children after they hatch. YOU CAN'T BABYSIT YOUR OWN CHILDREN. It drives me up a freaking wall when someone says my husband is 'babysitting' our son. THAT WOULD BE CALLED PARENTING, EVERYONE.
When I get to this sentence I change it so that Mr Fish dad says 'I'm taking care of my children' or some such thing.

Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs into Mr. Seahorse's pouch and he carries them with him as he swims about the ocean meeting other father fish incubating eggs as well as gliding peacefully past camouflaged creatures.

Admittedly Mister Seahorses is not my favorite Eric Carle book, but I've still used it more than once in lessons in my toddler classroom (with two different groups of children). Both times, the children were interested enough in the book, especially when it came to seeing what was hiding behind the mostly clear acetate pages. For quite some time, this book was featured in a common area in our school and every time our class walked by, at least one of my students would excitedly say, "Look, seahorse!" while wildly pointing at the show more cover. So there's that.

As a picture book, Mister Seahorse seems a bit long and dragging to me. Like many picture books, it uses repetition to appeal to young children. It seems to me here though that the repetition is too long - full conversations are repeated rather than simply a phrase or two. There also appear to be two different stories going on here - one is of Mister Seahorse and other male fish who do the primary caregiving for the eggs (notably though after they are hatched, one father says he is now "baby-sitting" the fish, so clearly we haven't entirely dropped stereotypical gender roles in this book). The second storyline is the one of how certain fish are very good at camouflaging themselves behind rocks, seaweed, etc. While the two subplots aren't in direct competition to one another, having them combined in one book makes for a lengthy book and dilutes the message somewhat, in my opinion. It might work well for the older end of young children but for preschool age and younger, the book seems to be a little too much.

As usual, Eric Carle's illustrations are deceptively simple and bring so much energy and color to every page. The acetate pages providing the camouflage for the sea creatures on the following pages are so much fun for kids and adults alike. show less

Since I was a child, I have loved Eric Carle books, and now as a teacher I keep coming back to them for my students. I found this gem on a public library online server and loved it.
As all his books, they are beautifully illustrated and simple to understand. The story is easy for children, but also educational. It tells of how a few different fish are cared for by the 'father' fish.
What a lovely illustration on family and how fathers too are caregivers.
It is a wonderful story ot show children life cycles, family life, ocean life and can be used in many different projects in the classroom. If you are looking for an Eric Carle book to teach science and art that isn't the 'Very Hungry Caterpillar', this is a great option.

Eric Carle is, hands-down and without doubt, my favorite picture book illustrator. I love his books as much now as I did growing up and 'Mr. Seahorse' is no exception. The book celebrates fatherhood and the simplicity of the language and illustrations alike make it a great introduction to marine-biology as well as alternative families for young readers.