The Bravest Fish

by Matt Buckingham

Back
Far below the waves, a little fish named Stanley lives with his school. They are the brightest, sparkliest fish of the sea. One morning, Stanley wakes up late, and the reef is strangely quiet. Oh no! Where have all the other fish gone?

Follow Stanley on a surprising adventure as he searches for his glittery, glowing friends!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Friendship, Adventure, Fiction, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this one because of the simplicity. It is about a fish who is trying to find his friends. He takes his time and sees other people on the way because he isn’t rushing. I liked the bright illustrations of the fish in this picture book and think it would be great for children to make their own fish and tell their own little story.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book and in particular was drawn to the bright colours used and how shiny Stanley and his friends (shoal) are. This may be a good book to use in a PSHCE lesson to talk to children about how they think Stanley may be feeling and what they would do if they were in his shoes. This could lead to writing something such as a diary entry in literacy. Children could also make up their own stories writing in Stanley's shoes using the discussion about what they would be feeling and what they would do in the situation.

[Tara Strosnider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far below the waves, a little fish named Stanley lives with his school--the brightest, sparkliest fish of the deep, dark sea. One morning, Stanley wakes up late, and the reef is strangely quiet. Follow Stanley as he diligently searches for his friends and meets other ocean creatures, in this underwater adventure. Stanley and his friends are highlighted with glimmering, gold foil artwork throughout the story.

[Erin Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely and engaging book for young children. The book follows a simple plot about friendship and getting lost but finding what you were looking for eventually. The illustrations were very colourful, engaging and appealing for children.

[Ally Ramsey (MB)]

Text to Connection

In "The Bravest Fish" Stanley had to be brave as he searched for his friends. It reminds me of the time i got lost at the store because I wandered off from my parents. Being a kid and not knowing where you are or the people around you, it gets scary. However I had to be brave and find someone up front to ask for help. I'd like to think that when I was little I myself was just like the brave fish.

[Kayla Victoria]

Just read this in the walk-in centre. Pages missing but still great

[Stephen Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright Stanley is a story about a fish called Stanley who is looking after his cousin Dennis. Dennis is keen to have a big adventure and they meet different creatures along the way. My daughter enjoys the colourful, sparkly illustrations. They get captured by a whale and are scared that they might be eaten. But much like finding nemo the whale gives a huge sneeze and they fly out into the see. A very interesting book which I would highly recommend. My children love the pictures and this helps them to really engage with the story.

[Vaishali · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crap. There's no bravery here... just a fish that hid from a shark and waited. The moral of the story: stay out of danger's way when it appears, and with time you'll get what you want. Should be named "The Patient Fish."

[Claire Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This illustrations in this book are very bright and colourful, and thus very appealing and engaging for young children. On the whole, the story was okay with a very simple plot. Therefore, it could be used to model to children how to write a story with a beginning, build up, problem and resolution. However, this story was not very interesting with the fish, Stanley, losing his friends, meeting different characters and then finding his friends again. The title of the book - The Bravest Fish - implies that the book would talk about bravery and could be perhaps used to introduce the concept of bravery to children, however, there is no mention of bravery, unless the fish being on his own is part of this.
I usually love children's picture books and usually rate them really highly but I was not too impressed with this book. Although, I can see the positive side of it being really simple with being able to be used as a stimulus to write stories or for children to use as a framework to write their own stories. However, to me, it is not a book that would make children excited about reading.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bravest Fish is about a fish named Stanley that woke up late one morning and got left behind by his friends. The book tells the story of the adventure that Stanley goes on to be reunited with them.

Stanley is flat, consistent characters with little development or growth over the course of the story. This is typical of picture books as the author does not have much time to develop or allow the character to grow over the story.

The book is told in a chronological order that is typical to picture books. It follows the exact order of events that Stanley goes through from waking up alone to being reunited with his friends.

The pictures are bright and colorful through out the book. The use of colors make the story interesting for a young child to read. Most pictures in this book take up the entire two page spread and help tell the story along with the words.

The book was interesting and a good one to include in a library.

[Noah Rachal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little fish named Stanely who is left behind by his school of friends as they go on a field trip. Stanely goes on a quest to search for his friends and instead comes across a lobster who directs him to where he saw his school of friends. Stanely follows that path and unfortunately comes across a shark who chases Stanely in an attempt to eat him. Stanely swims into a narrow hole to hide from the shark and begins to wonder if he'll ever see his friends again. Maybe he will be stuck inside that hole in fear of the shark forever. Stanely sees an orange light, one that he though was beautiful, and peaks out to see if the shark had gone away and sees his friends! Stanely is relieved. Although the moral of the story isn't clear as day, I can say that what I got from it was that Stanely didn't let the intimidation of almost being gobbled by the shark ruin his happiness when he finally saw his friends.

[Joecel Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stanley is a fish who lives with his school. They are the brightest and sparkliest fish in the ocean. One day, Stanley woke up late and the ocean was very quiet. He searched for them everywhere but they were nowhere to be found. This is a book that tells us about friendship. When Stanley woke up late, he thought his friends left him. On his way to his journey, Stanley almost got caught by a shark. But, Stanley decided that he can’t hide from the shark forever. Bravely, he got out of the cave than he saw all of his friends looking for him.

I love the consistency of the illustration in this book because all of the fishes are glowing. The dark background made it easier for the readers to see the colors and brightness of the fish. Also, even though they are all the same type of fish, the illustrator made sure that each fish has their own sizes and styles.

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

My children were drawn in by the illustration style, but it was a very disappointing read. There's nothing but the smallest trace of a story here. A fish (Stanley) wakes up and can't find his friends. He runs and hides from danger. He finds his friends. The End. We know nothing about the character of Stanley except that he sometimes oversleeps and belongs to a species of glowing/shimmering fish, but nothing about these qualities winds up being relevant. There are also no acts of bravery to be found here.

The highlight of the book was finding a snail that was accidentally drawn walking on six legs in one scene. As we all know, snails don't have legs, and my children (ages four and two) found this hilarious. They might ask for it again based on that alone.

[Tara Smallwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Bravest Fish is a fun tale about a fish call Stanley. He wakes up late and realizes it was the day his school of fish swam to cooler waters. When his adventure began he met a lobster counting his coins. He was frightened by his reflection. Last he encountered a shark. He finds himself hiding in a cave. When he believed it was safe to leave, he swam out of the cave . He sees a school of fish and tells them about the adventure he had. This book is called the bravest fish because Stanley the fish faces his fears at the beginning of the story, fear of trying to swim to find his friend and leaving the cave to continue his journey.

[Rayona Hart-Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little fish named Stanley is late for a field trip with his school. When he awakens and finds his friends aren't there, he sets off to find them. He encounters a lobster, a pearl, and even a scary shark. When hiding from the shark, he peaks his head out and finally finds his friend who were also looking for him.

This is a great book for teaching children determination. Stanley being a little fish in the big blue sea and wandering off to find his friends was a huge risk, but he tok it because he was determined.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for younger kids. The book is about a fish named Stanley who was lost from his friends. He had to search and encounter danger in hopes of finding them. Stanley eventually was reunited with his friends. This is a cute story with a happy ending that would be perfect for kids around 5-7 years old. The book has several themes, but the primary theme was friendship. Stanley was committed and focused on finding his friends. Children would be encouraged to fins loyalty friendships when reading this book. The Bravest Fish could be great in the classroom as well.

[Jess Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a courageous fish named Stanley, who goes on a adventure to be reunited with his shoal. With running themes of friendship and danger, Stanley didn’t give up and eventually after meeting a rude lobster, a scary shark, and injuring himself on a shiny pearl, he was eventually reunited with his friends, where he could continue to cooler waters. The moral of the story is a great way to explore determination with children, whilst allowing them to engage in eye catching illustrations, which could be used to enhance inference skills.

[Kayla Angeletti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute adventurous book! It was about a fish who missed the class field trip and ended up going on an adventure to find the rest of the class. This is a nice book, but it didn't really grab my attention a lot. To me this book is perfect for a class read aloud because it is great for PEER and CROWD questions. I would recommend this book for kids who love adventures and only for a quick read aloud. I don't think it's super interesting nor is the best book to keep in my classroom or on here but it will be a fun boom just to have.

[Angel Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

We follow a fish named Stanley who wakes up late for school and tries to catch up with his other fish friends who moved to cooler waters because it is summertime. The illustrations are nice and it’s a decent story but there isn’t something a child could learn from reading it. I really like those beautiful colors orange and green. I also liked the scenery of the ocean and small details in making the bubbles look pretty and translucent in the illustrations by Mat. Teachers can teach students to be sure to arrive on time, so you won’t have to travel alone.

[Ayleen Cabrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bravest Fish by Matt Buckingham is about a fish named Stanley. One day he woke up late for school and went out to find his friends. The book is very colorful and bright which keeps it interesting for the readers. This is a great story for young children to follow and learn some values of friendship. He encountered, a shark that he was afraid of but overcame with his bravery and goal to find his friends which in the end he did.

[Haleemeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this book. This book is just so simple and kind of reminds me on the movie, "Finding Nemo." The illustrations are perfectly drawn. Also the story itself is cute and brave. Stanly, the fish is trying to fond his friends in the middle of the ocean and was in for some rude awakenings. Throughout is brave journey, he stumbles across a lobster with coins, he bumped nose first into a shiny pearl, and came across a shark and had to hide in the cave.

[Michelle Colar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade range: K-2nd
Genre: Fiction
I think this was a great, simple picture book. I love the illustrations the colors draw attention and I think that would be great for younger students. I love the meaning behind this book. The way the book shows children how to be brave. The highlight of the book for me would have to be the part with the lobster. I thought it was pretty funny the way he was trying to protect his treasure. Overall, a great kid book to keep in your classroom.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story follows Stanley as he tries to reunite with his shoal. Along the way he encounters a range of other sea creatures. But is soon reunited.

There would be opportunities to discuss feelings with this book.

Although there are some learning opportunities in this story it is rather bland and boring and more definitely not memorable. I think children would like how Stanley is shiny and that would be the only thing they’d remember - “Can we look at the shiny fish book?”

[Skyler J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bravest Fish is a short, cute story. I like the picture book because it includes information about the great, big ocean. This book would be perfect for beginning learners for a few different reasons. To begin, it is very attentive because of the sparkly illustrations. Another reason is because it introduces younger children to the ocean. Overall it is a good book about what lays in the ocean.

[Alejandra Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book for elementary students from the grade first to third. This book can remind students of the movie Nemo if they have watched it due to Stanley wondering off. Some key themes in the book are courage and independence. I would definitely have this in my classroom because it sends a simple message of being brave and being scared meanwhile doing so is ok. After wards you can talk about times the kids felt scared but still did the task at hand.

[BrookesEducationLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright Stanley is a very sparkly golden fish who has woken up late and needs to catch up with his friends, he encounters a whole range of sea creatures on his journey, getting into a little danger too - the books not without it's thrills!

This picture book is visually stunning, little Stanley shines out brightly on every page and we think this will be very engaging for young readers.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple story of a little golden fish who ventures off to find his friends. Along the way he meets a cranky lobster, a giant pearl, and finally a huge shark! He flees to a cave until he sees the overwhelming golden light of his fish school: his family.

[Janna Oakfellow-Pushee · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the art contained within is super-great, neither I nor my kiddos found this story appealing or memorable, nor could we find a reason for the story itself to be captivating on its own: this is a book to have on the shelf if your child really enjoys art and/or fish stories in general.

[Ed Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright Stanely By Matt Buckingham is a story about a brightly colored fish named Stanley as he looks for his friends. This is a fun read and the art atracts the eye, but what is the most interesting is the texture used for the fish scales. I enjoyed reading this book to my kids.

[Regan Brakebush]

This was a beautiful book that young kids would appreciate. It is sort of like the Rainbow Fish with the foil in the print. It makes it shimmer and shine. The story is cute too. You could probably come up with all kinds of art projects to do in conjunction with this one.