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23rd out of 183 books
—
112 voters
Fish is Fish
by
Leo Lionni
Two best friends, a minnow and a tadpole, are practically inseparable until the tadpole grows legs and decides to explore the world beyond the pond. When the tadpole, now a frog, returns to tell his friend of the extraordinary things he’s seen, the minnow, now a fish, tries to follow in his footsteps, but quickly finds that land is not what he expected. Friendship truly sa...more
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
February 12th 1974
by Dragonfly Books
(first published 1970)
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The illustrations in this book are great, it was almost looks like they are textured and really would jump off of the pages. The illustrations go along way to help tell the story, the story and illustrations go hand in hand. One would not work well without the other, the pictures really help the reader visualize what is happening in the story.
This is the story of a fish and a tadpole, they were good friends. Slowly tadpole begins to change into a frog, which makes fish upset because frog can le...more
This is the story of a fish and a tadpole, they were good friends. Slowly tadpole begins to change into a frog, which makes fish upset because frog can le...more
Fish is Fish by Leo Lonni is story about change and the adjustments that must be made during times of change. A little minnow and a tadpole who has been by one another sides since birth are now experiencing a great change when the tadpole beings to turn into a frog. This comes as a surprise to the minnow when the tadpole turns into a frog and he continues to stay a minnow. The frog is able to go onto land and explore the world outside of the pond. However, when the minnow decides one day that he...more
A baby fish and a tadpole in a pond become friends. When the tadpole grows into a frog, he leaves the water to explore the land above. Upon hearing from his friend about this wondrous world, the fish decides to go see it. But he leaves the water at his peril, only to be rescued just in time by the frog.
This is not a moralistic story, but it lays some groundwork for an understanding of what constitutes truth. This especially relates to the postmodern idea that spiritual (unseen) reality is whatev...more
This is not a moralistic story, but it lays some groundwork for an understanding of what constitutes truth. This especially relates to the postmodern idea that spiritual (unseen) reality is whatev...more
I remember loving this book (it survived many culls of books over the years), and looking at it now, the illustrations are beautiful and textured, the imaginative glimpses of what fish imagines the world to be like fun and whimsical. But the underlying story is disappointing. The moral seems very much that you should stick to your pond and to what you know - that the wider world is not for fish, only frogs. The fish's desperate struggle for breath and his realisation that he is not allowed to pa...more
What a great way to teach children the life cycle of a frog! I am so ashamed to say that I have not read this book for years and forgot what it was about. I am so glad that I read it again and I cannot wait to read it to my children. I absolutly love it! This is a great book about friendship and to just be yourself. I love the part of the book where the frog is telling the fish about everything that he had seen out in the world and the whole time the frog is imagining all of the characters as fi...more
This book is definitely a classic. The simple writing style and illustrations were written in such a way that made me want to read more of the children's picture books that were written before my grandparents were even born. The book was halfway falling apart, but that's what gave it character. In this story, a friendship between a tadpole and a minnow blossoms. They suddenly found themselves all grown up, and they each were able to experience life in the ways that they could. It shows the way t...more
Apr 16, 2013
Christina Davis
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
educ-x461,
friends,
informational,
kindergarten,
own,
picture-book,
pre-k,
scholastic,
science-fiction,
transformation
A tadpole and minnow become friends. When the tadpole transformed into a frog the minnow couldn’t believe it. The frog left the water and went on an adventure to see what he could see. One day he returned to his friend the minnow to tell him about what he had seen. The fish was so excited he jumped out of the water to go on an adventure too. But the fish gasped for air, he couldn’t breathe! The frog pushed him back in the water to save him from dying. The minnow realized that his life in the wat...more
This book overall was okay. This was one that I had not read before. A Tadpole and Minnow are best friends. Until one day the tadpole evolves into a frog. As a frog he wonders the world and all its beauty. The Minnow begins to get lonely, until his friend comes back and tells him all about the wonderful world. Minnow must see the world and flings himself out of the water. He then can not breathe. What will happen to the Minnow? I believe that this book would be appropriate for first and second g...more
Leo Lionni loved his animals growing up and was known to have a room full of frogs, fish, insects and others. The stories he tells around these creatures are amazing. This is one of my favorites! The message in the story can be used for so many lessons; friendship, frog and fish life cycles, dealing with change and accepting our limitations. The illustrations are so colorful and imaginative, I especially love his use of texture in most of the background pieces of water and land. Lionni's use of...more
This book was not my favorite, but it is a good book for children. The illustrations are not my favorite style but they are original and Leo Lionni succeeds in doing this style of illustrations in the book, and all of his books. It allows his books to stand out, you will see the cover and know that book is written by Leo Lionni. The textures pictures are simplistic for children’s benefit, and like children the fish in the story bases the frogs story from his prior knowledge of what fish look lik...more
Could be used to introduce and practice imaging (visualizing) - the fish sees all the different creatures that the fog describes as fish with added features - discussion of how our view of the world is determined by what we know.
Classifying different types of animals - as LA skill (semantic mapping) to develop word meaning and as a science-related skill.
Also could be used to develop beginning number sense in pre-K, K students by counting the number of legs, wings, etc. of different animals. Con...more
Classifying different types of animals - as LA skill (semantic mapping) to develop word meaning and as a science-related skill.
Also could be used to develop beginning number sense in pre-K, K students by counting the number of legs, wings, etc. of different animals. Con...more
This book talks about a new situation for a tadpole that transformed into a frog. The frog went to visit the land and came back to the water. When he came back, he told his friends about land. One of his fish friends wanted to see the land and had a hard time learning how to adopt because he was not equiped with legs and air-made lungs. This book is great about friendship and great to show children that being a follower is not good. This book is also great for students that need help accepting w...more
This book is about a fish who is jealous of his friend who is a friend. The frog gets to see all of the world but the fish is limited to the water. One day the fish decides he is going to fly out and land on the ground and see what the world outside the ocean. But the fish loses his breath and cant breathe. But luckily the frog saw what was happening and he saved his friend by pushing him back into the ocean. The fish learns that he needs to be in the ocean and that he is not made for the outsid...more
I really like the simplistic illustrations, and feel this book would be a great way to start introducing children to more complex language. The only reason I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the message at the end, which seems to imply there are limits to what one can do in life, despite their passion to realize their dreams, which I felt to be rather cynical, especially for a children's book. One could argue the message is about being happy where you and with who you are, but that wa...more
Oct 07, 2012
Rachael
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
1st-grade,
art,
colors,
ece-3601,
fish,
friendship,
habitat,
picture-books,
science-literature,
life-cycle,
imagination,
collage
FIsh is Fish, Leo Lionni, 1st grade, Life cycle, science project: create a habitat collage.
What things would we need to include to keep the plants and animals alive?
What other plants or animals might live here?
What is the name for this type of habitat? (a pond)
Love who you are! There is no sense in trying to be someone else, just be beautiful you. Appreciate your strengths and your weaknesses. Your friends may be able to do things you can not, but rather than focusing on what you can not do, l...more
What things would we need to include to keep the plants and animals alive?
What other plants or animals might live here?
What is the name for this type of habitat? (a pond)
Love who you are! There is no sense in trying to be someone else, just be beautiful you. Appreciate your strengths and your weaknesses. Your friends may be able to do things you can not, but rather than focusing on what you can not do, l...more
This story is about a minnow and a tadpole who are young friends. When the friends grow up the, the tadpole becomes a frog and goes to live on land for a while. The frog eventually comes back to tell fish about the wonders of being on land. The pictures are really represtative of the story. Everything that Frog tells fish, is imagined through the eyes of the fish. This book can be used for grades 2nd through 5th. Its full of scientific concepts that would be a great way to introduce students to...more
This was a cute book about the friendship between a frog and a fish; the frog goes out and sees the world and then recounts his experience and all of the things that he has seen on land. The reader sees what the fish is seeing in his mind when the frog is telling him about it, which is very interesting. The fish is creating his own schema for what he thinks people, cows, birds, etc. look like just by what the frog is saying. The pictures are colorful and engaging, making this book enjoyable for...more
Book type; Fable & Floklore
This book is about two best friends, a minnow and a tadpole; the two do everything together until the tadpole grows legs and becomes a frog. The frog decides to explore the world outside the pond. The frog returns to tell his friend of the extraordinary things he’s seen. The minnow, now a fish, tries to see the same things and jumps out of the water but quickly finds that land is not what he expected. And got some help from the frog to get back in the water . The...more
This book is about two best friends, a minnow and a tadpole; the two do everything together until the tadpole grows legs and becomes a frog. The frog decides to explore the world outside the pond. The frog returns to tell his friend of the extraordinary things he’s seen. The minnow, now a fish, tries to see the same things and jumps out of the water but quickly finds that land is not what he expected. And got some help from the frog to get back in the water . The...more
As a Life Skills teacher this book has come to mean so much to me and my students. The way the fish interprets frog’s adventures from his own schema is amazing as vividly portrayed in the illustrations. All of my students have very different schema from their peers. Their experiences with hospitals, the challenges their disabilities afford them, and the list goes on and on. I am amazed at what they do with the information I provided them in class. It’s is as beautiful as the fish’s imagination!
This is a great short story that can teach kids many different things. Throughout the story we get to see the transformation of Tadpole as he grows legs and becomes a frog. We also see how Minnow sees the world when Frog comes back to tell his tales from beyond the pond. Minnow (now a fish) imagines all the new features he learns about cows and birds and humans to fish since it's all he knows. Also the pictures are sure to get a laugh from kids!
I love this book for many reasons, but mostly for the message it portrays ... that experiences in life are context dependent. Those may seem like big words for a kid, but the book does a very nice job of illustrating how our understanding is guided by our own experiences and life. And the pictures are well done, cute, fun, and funny.
As an educator, I use this book in professional development to succinctly depict context dependency for students in learning environments.
As an educator, I use this book in professional development to succinctly depict context dependency for students in learning environments.
Fish and tadpole grow up in a pond together but when tadpole begins to grow and change, their relationship changes.
I have read this book many times and I love it every time. The themes in it are so teachable: the changes that come with growing up, how friends can grow apart, how to deal with jealousy, etc. I taught this in Summer 2011 and it was over the first graders' heads a bit. I'd like to try it again.
I have read this book many times and I love it every time. The themes in it are so teachable: the changes that come with growing up, how friends can grow apart, how to deal with jealousy, etc. I taught this in Summer 2011 and it was over the first graders' heads a bit. I'd like to try it again.
A fish and a tadpole become friends, but when the tadpole turns into a frog and explores the world, the fish is left behind. The frog comes back and tells the fish about the world and the fish visualizes everything he says from a fish point of view. The pictures are interesting, but I'm not sure if I like the message to the fish about the fish needing to stay behind and just be a fish.
Illustrator: Leo Lionni
Age: Preschool-Elementary
Summary: Fish's best friend Frog leaves the pond and comes back to tell Fish about the creatures outside of the pond.
Applications/Uses: This is an excellent story for helping students understand how important background knowledge and schema is.
Themes/Connections: Schema, pond animals
Awards: None
Age: Preschool-Elementary
Summary: Fish's best friend Frog leaves the pond and comes back to tell Fish about the creatures outside of the pond.
Applications/Uses: This is an excellent story for helping students understand how important background knowledge and schema is.
Themes/Connections: Schema, pond animals
Awards: None
This is a cute little book. My only complaint is that it might be difficult for children to discern what the "moral" of the story is. I believe the author meant for it to be something along the lines of "do what you excel at rather than trying to be what you're not" but this could easily be misinterpreted as "don't pursue your dreams or you might die." Heh.
We brought this Italy with us when you were just 18 months, probably a bit early for the complex imaginary universe and emotional terrain of the book. The strange creatures imagined by the fish were difficult to categorize and might have seemed mystifying, but you are drawn to the page with the "sad" fish stranded on land.
A minnow and a tadpole are great friends and live in a pond. As the tadpole grows it is interested in discovering the world above and leaves the minnow in the pond. The minnow is sad thinking his friend will never return to the pond. The tadpole is now a frog and returns to share all his discoveries with his best friend. The minnow is curious and wants to see for himself, but almost dies. The frog discovers him and helps him back into the water, and this "fish is fish".
I liked the story and thou...more
I liked the story and thou...more
A story that tells grown-ups about how people learn. I've used it to illustrate how wrong the "peoples are blank slate" myth in education; instead, people come with their own understanding and misconceptions which they use when feeding new information. In the end, this is a book about constructivism.
This book was excellent. It was about a fish and a tadpole. The tadpole ended up becoming a frog so it left the pond and frog behind. The frog was able to explore the world and the fish wanted to join but ended up being saved by the frog. The theme of this is the importance of being yourself.
This book would be appropriate for K-1 grades because it has lots of colorful pictures and is fun to read. I would incorporate this book with how we view animals in the world. In addition, it could be used as a way to express how our imagination and uniqueness are different.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland 566 Autum...: Picture Book 41 | 1 | 1 | Nov 18, 2012 05:22am |
FROM PUBLISHER:
Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner--for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.
Leo Lionni has gained international...more
More about Leo Lionni...
Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 highly acclaimed children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner--for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse. Leo Lionni died in October of 1999 at his home in Tuscany, Italy, at the age of 89.
Leo Lionni has gained international...more
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Aug 09, 2012 07:06pm