#20- The Copycat Fish

Title: The Copycat Fish

Author: Gail Donovan

Illustrator: David Austin Clar Studio

Publishing Company: Night Sky Books

Copyright: 2001

# of Pages: 23

Genre/Category: Fantasy

            I chose this book because it is another story about Rainbow Fish, and I loved Rainbow Fish when I was younger. In this story, Rainbow Fish goes to school, and a younger fish, Tug, copies everything he does. Rainbow Fish gets really annoyed at Tug, but the teacher partners Tug and Rainbow Fish together to plant a garden. The two fish learn to work together, and they end up liking each other in the end.

            I think the background illustrations in this book were created with watercolors, but I think the other parts were created with colored pencils. The illustrator uses jagged lines throughout the book, and I feel like this helps add to Rainbow Fish’s frustration at being copied. The fish are all outlined in a shadowy blue or black line. I feel like it helps give the fish depth. I really like the way the ocean is portrayed. The illustrator uses blues, greens, and purples all mixed together to give the reader an underwater experience.

            I would recommend this book for children ages 2-5. The book has beautiful illustrations, simple words, and a clear moral. Teachers could use this book to teach children about working together and getting along. The fish in the book had to sort things by size, so younger children could have to sort things from smallest to largest or largest to smallest. Since I would recommend this book for younger children, I think teachers could also use this book when teaching colors. The illustrations are so colorful, and the students could work with Rainbow Fish’s scales. This book could also be used as an introduction to teaching children about fish.