Don’t Trust Fish!

About this book

Fish. What do we know about them, really?  

They don’t follow rules. Some have gills, some have lungs; some live in fresh water, some in salt water. They are rebels and outlaws, and not to be trusted. 

The fact that a whale shark is the size of a bus is clearly not okay. And we absolutely, definitely do not know for sure that fish don’t have giant battle aquariums with laser beams and big long legs that they will one day use to take over the world. 

What are they plotting? We don’t know. But we must find out. 

Don’t Trust Fish is an absolute must read for any fan of humorous picture books. Illustrated by the fabulous Dan Santat, Neil Sharpson’s brilliantly anarchic text – showcasing the paranoiac, fish-hating fantasies of a disenfranchised crab – is an absolute hoot on every page, while also giving the reader some really quite interesting facts about fish. 

Nonetheless, this book has a serious message: should we believe anyone who tells us not to trust groups of people (or animals), for reasons that sound suspiciously like fear and prejudice? 

The crab that turns out to be writing this book clearly has an anti-fish agenda, and realisation of this may inspire interesting conversations with children about who we should trust and why, and why we shouldn’t jump to conclusions or make generalisations. As well as being a genuinely funny book, it is, like many picture books, really very sophisticated indeed.