(story)time: Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins

Despite the wide variety of books on the shelves in our house, we get into book ruts a lot. F likes to keep a short stack of books on her bedside table, and she’s been known to grab the top three for reading each night until one of us yells “uncle”. Friday night we decided to all pile into E’s bed for a longer read aloud session, and I decided it was time to shake thing up a bit. I told the girls we are going to go through the books on the downstairs shelves in order, without skipping or rearranging, until we reach the end. They seemed excited about the idea of discovering forgotten treasures, and we dove in. I thought I’d also take the opportunity to highlight a few of our older favorites along the way here, and add them to the big master recommended reads list we’re working on for the upcoming school book fair as well. And it might help me get my act together to organize the (story)time posts on the blog too. Remember, you can find our book recommendation list at the (story)time tab at the top, or the button in the sidebar.

Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins was one of E’s very favorite books when she was younger. The hardback edition is really large – great big pages to turn and read. You might be more familiar with Cousins’ work in her well-loved Maisy books. I love her illustration style, and it works so well within this rhyming romp through an active and diverse school of fishes. M and E were both reciting the words from memory the other night, even years after our more frequent readings. There are hairy fish and scary fish, stripey fish and gripey fish, upside down and round and round fish – all sorts of colorful, wacky fish.

I love the sweet ending when Little Fish comes back home from his swimming adventures. This book is absolutely perfect for ages two-five. Even slightly older kids might enjoy the subtle prompts to count and locate fish throughout. Or break out the bright colored paints and create your own unique fish in the style of Cousins’ work.

Find these titles at your favorite local independent bookstore. Happy reading!