Don’t Trust Fish

You might be fooled by the scientific illustrations on the opening pages into thinking this book is a serious educational text, and while this cheeky, funny and outright irreverent little book is educational, it’s not in the ways you’d expect! Author Neil Sharpson begins by defining a mammal, a reptile and a bird, with Dan Santat’s crisp illustrations to match. But things go off the rails when Sharpson tries to define a fish. What even is a fish? They live in fresh and salt water, they have gills and lungs, they eat plants, invertebrates and even other fish! You’ll soon learn what fish are: untrustworthy!

With hilarious cartoon-style illustrations by Caldecott medallist Santat, Don’t Trust Fish explains all the real (and invented) reasons why fish are indefinable, inconsistent and untrustworthy creatures. A delight for children aged 4+ (and their adults too), but not advisable for ichthyologists and/or children with goldfish.