Book Title: The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrator: Henry Fisher
Availability: Click for an available copy from Amazon
First published in a compilation of her poems in 1938 by E.P. Dutton & Company, the book was 128 pages long and included at least one other poem which has in the 21st century been turned in to a book and that is the The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin. Without knowing the contents of the book, I would assume that many of the poems have now been published by Parragon Publishing and others as new “never to be published” works of Margaret Wise Brown. But they have been published, if only as poems almost 80 years ago. As for The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile, the text is sparse but the illustrations by Henry Fisher are brilliantly bright and robust and they fill each page with delight. The story is about a family that is in search of a fish with the deep sea smile. They do catch fish time and time again, one with terrible teeth, one with blue green eyes, another with strong jaws, but each of those gets thrown back into the sea. At the end of the book, you can see what a smile can help a fish get out of a trouble, and maybe the same can be said for humans. I love the meaning that adults can ascribe to a children’s book, but maybe that’s exactly what Margaret Wise Brown wanted children to learn from her text.
If you’ve read The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile to your children or grandchildren, we’d love to know your thoughts on this new release from Margaret Wise Brown.
You can also check out the entire list of Margaret Wise Brown books right here.
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Buy The Fish with the Deep Sea Smile via Amazon.com
