As a school librarian who teaches 23 classes each week from PreK3 through 5th grade, finding the perfect read aloud book that can be used for every single class is something to celebrate. When I came across Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharperson and Dan Santat in the “new releases” on Sora, I clicked through it, and was immediately drawn in. Even as fun and engaging as I, a librarian, found it, I could not have imagined how much each and every one of my classes would enjoy the book. I was able to come up with two distinct projects for my classes using this one book, and each one kept my students engaged with the AASL standards and laughing.
Don’t Trust Fish is a picture book that is full of facts, which provides so much fodder for book discussion! The book begins with some simple facts and animal illustrations–cows, snakes, and birds, which I loved because my students know the ASL signs for those animals and could deploy them easily. As my PreK3 through 2nd grade students learned about facts versus opinions and bias in books, they gleefully shouted “FACT” when I asked if it was a fact or opinion that birds have feathers. But then…fish. The book quickly becomes a book about fish, and how you should not trust them. It’s fact-based: some fish have gills, some have lungs, some eat seaweed, they live underwater, etc. But there’s a bias in the storytelling that’s silly and if you’ve got a good read aloud voice, it’s a real treat to read to an audience! My personal favorite page from the book featured a sinking point and pointed out that ships always sink in water (where fish live) and never on land. Isn’t that strange?
Not only was I able to include sign language (animal signs in particular) in this read aloud and lesson, but the fact versus opinion opportunities here were endless. I asked throughout whether particular phrases were facts or opinions, and then the younger grades (particularly 1st and 2nd, who are stronger readers) got a chance to circle facts about fish (some from the books, some from other sources) while also offering their own opinions of fish.
Upper grades, 3rd-5th, read this book with me after several weeks of animal research study, reading more traditional animal nonfiction books, and the new classic Butt or Face. I introduced Don’t Trust Fish ahead of our project to make zines about animals. The goal was to create an 8 page zine (including front and back cover) that utilized facts about animals, but in a unique way. They enjoyed the humor of Don’t Trust Fish and played with ways to use a similar structure to talk about their own animal research. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal—what are they running away from? Can penguins really not fly, or are they hiding their skills from us? Frogs–friend or foe? It was delightful to see their creativity come out while they still utilized their research skills to build their own zines.
If you haven’t checked out Don’t Trust Fish yet, consider this my plea to check it out, laugh out loud on multiple pages, and introduce it to the young readers in your life. There’s so much to take away from this book—and the very last page is a lesson in authorship bias so well done I almost gasped. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did, and find ways to connect it with your readers and learners.
(Featured image at top of post by Aryssa Damron)
Today’s guest contributor is Aryssa Damron. Aryssa is a school librarian in Washington, D.C. She’s the co-chair of the ALSC Children and Libraries Editorial Advisory Committee and is allergic to eating fish, so she definitely doesn’t trust them.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
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