Review by Booklist Review
A tiny fish, utterly lost in the deep, dark sea, is the focal point of this picture book, which delivers a profound lesson for children and adults alike. A father and daughter set out on a fishing expedition at dawn. The text proclaims, "There is light, and there is dark." The little girl scatters pieces of bread over the side, and one of the orange fish gathered around the boat takes off after them. Soon, the dark ocean closes around the fish, leaving it with a swirl of emotions: fear, anger, confusion, and sadness. The full-color artwork, done in watercolors, powerfully conveys the blue-black isolation of the ocean, punctuated by sparks of light from bizarre-looking bioluminescent creatures. But the text reminds us, these lights can go off and may lead in the wrong direction, advising us to keep searching, and assuring that eventually a "spark" will show us the way back. A white-glowing jellyfish finally leads our orange fish in the right direction, back to the light surrounding the boat. At book's end, we move topside to the boat itself, with the father and daughter now stargazing. "You need light to move through the dark. But sometimes you need the dark . . . to see the light."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
On one level, this is the story of a little orange fish who swims too far down into the inky blackness of the ocean, becomes lost and disoriented but perseveres, and eventually makes it back up to the "warm and welcoming" sunlight zone. Below the surface, though, the second-person text is a comforting meditation on coping with adversity and not giving in to despair. A girl on a fishing boat drops pieces of bread into the water, which from her sun-drenched perspective looks dark. To the group of little fish attracted to the bread, however, the water is saturated with light. One fish chases after an elusive piece of bread, down, down, down, until: "The dark creeps up and surrounds you. And before you know it...there is only dark." Fong's watercolor-like, digitally compiled illustrations perfectly capture the ocean's different moods, from the promising early-morning scenes above the water to the intimidating, shadowy ocean depths. Bioluminescent creatures glowing eerily in the bluish-black waters offer false hope (e.g., an anglerfish's lure); the narrator urges "you" to "keep searching." If the message is familiar, it's worth repeating: "Sometimes you need the dark...to see the light." Fong avoids sinking the story with platitudes by keeping the concept simple, giving the protagonist lots of personality, and imbuing the atmospheric illustrations with tension and emotion. The immensely satisfying ending comes full circle, back above the water under a star-filled sky. Kitty Flynn November/December 2022 p.65(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exploration of light and darkness featuring a little orange fish with enormous eyes. Throughout most of the sparsely worded, full-bleed pages, the tiny creature literally demonstrates the dangers in situations involving both darkness and light--which offer parallels to real life. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect underlying what could have been straightforward metaphor. This quirky, aesthetically appealing story introduces two people--an adult and a child, both light-skinned--who approach their boat with fishing poles. Onboard, the adult fishes while the child tosses breadcrumbs to a group of hungry fish. The story never acknowledges the dangers to fish in these sun-drenched waters ("The light is warm and welcoming. In the light, it is easy to see what's ahead"), and the little fish happily pursues a sinking breadcrumb. As the fish swims deeper still, general warnings accompany specific hazards in the art--for example, a near miss with an anglerfish illustrates the idea that some sparks can be the wrong ones to follow when searching for light. The text--often white against the deep blues of the ocean--reassuringly notes that the darkness can make us feel frightened, lost, or angry, and many children will enjoy the comical expressions on the fish's face. Art, layout, and text create a soothing and often humorous mood, but vegetarian readers may feel uneasy. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Sweet but more than a little fishy. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
