The Little Red Fish

Taeeun Yoo makes a big splash into the fishbowl that is children's writing. 

THREE PROS

*My son has about 15 new books to choose from this week, but this is the only one he wants us to read 

*Other authors would be happy to create something half as imaginative
*Whale shadow...'nuff said

THREE CONS 

*The story itself doesn't speak to me in quite the same way as it does to my boy   

*There's no doubting the magical qualities of the book, but I have to admit I don't quite get if there is a point to the whole thing 

*There are a few pages without words, which is fine in and of itself, but they still force you to guess at the logic behind them

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Where do I start with this review?  At first blush, I didn't really like the book all that much and figured I was going to give it a Donate when I eventually sat down to review it.  But within minutes I saw just how drawn my kid was to this little red fish, and started to reconsider.  With each passing reading, I focused more and more on the positive qualities it has, most of which revolve around the mysticism that teems out of the second half of the book.  If I was a little less straitlaced, I might have thrown a Buy at it, but by now you know I'm a fairly red-blooded American male, so it gets a Borrow.  [I know the font is messed up again, but it's getting more screwy when I try to fix it, so I'm just leaving it.] 

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy