The Pout-Pout Fish

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
Illustrated by Dan Hanna
2008

     "I'm a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face, so I spread the dreary-wearies all over the place."  The poor pout-pout fish swims around the ocean with an "ever-present pout".  He's gloomy and bummed and there's nothing he can do about.  That's just the way it is.  All his ocean companions try to get him to change his pout, to stop grimacing and just smile.  But he's just " a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face, so I spread the dreary-wearies all over the place." That is, until a beautiful fish unexpectedly kisses him.
     The Pout-Pout Fish is a fun rhyming book that follows a repetitive pattern with an animal interacting with the pout-pout fish and him always responding with the same sing-song lines  It won't take long into your reading before the kids or students will feel compelled to join in a say the pout-pout lines.  The illustrations are vibrant and appealing.  Very fun read aloud with a sweet ending.