What do you think?
Rate this book
Grandmother Fish
Where did we come from?
It's a simple question, but not so simple an answer to explain—especially to young children. Charles Darwin's theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish.
Told in an engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our planet and explains how we are all connected.
The book also includes comprehensive backmatter, including:
- An elaborate illustration of the evolutionary tree of life
- Helpful science notes for parents
- How to explain natural selection to a child
It's a simple question, but not so simple an answer to explain—especially to young children. Charles Darwin's theory of common descent no longer needs to be a scientific mystery to inquisitive young readers. Meet Grandmother Fish.
Told in an engaging call and response text where a child can wiggle like a fish or hoot like an ape and brought to life by vibrant artwork, Grandmother Fish takes children and adults through the history of life on our planet and explains how we are all connected.
The book also includes comprehensive backmatter, including:
- An elaborate illustration of the evolutionary tree of life
- Helpful science notes for parents
- How to explain natural selection to a child
Hardcover
First published March 1, 2015
9 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Tweet
65 books49 followersTabletop game designer, children's science communicator. Grandmother Fish was a labor of love for 15 years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
Read
July 20, 2016I wrote it. I think it's great.
October 27, 2020
Now while I without a doubt do appreciate how simple and very much age appropriate Jonathan Tweet's main textual body is presented in his Grandmother Fish (as the book is marketed as a child's first book about evolution, and indeed from word choices, song-like repetitiveness to the large size of the printed words themselves, Grandmother Fish is clearly geared towards younger children, towards three to five or six year olds) I for one have sadly and unfortunately also found the very basic and bare bones structure and nature of the author's narrative potentially confusing, namely that by making the evolutionary moves from fishes to reptiles until finally to mammals, including us humans, so unadorned and basic and leaving out even if by necessity many if not most of the transitional forms, it does or at least it could seem so for in particular very literally minded children that evolution means that at one time, a fish gave birth to a reptile, which then later give birth to a mammal (and that the story of life on earth and evolution is therefore a straight and unbranching line of direct descendants, which from what I have read about evolution is simply not the truth and even in a picture book meant for younger children should really also not be claimed as being the truth).
And thus, while I have most definitely and to a point found Grandmother Fish both interesting and enlightening, not to mention engagingly and entertainingly presented (although the title in my opinion could really be a bit more gender neutral, such as perhaps Ancestor Fish), the lack of clarity and resulting potential confusions of the deliberately very easy, uncomplicated textual descriptions of evolution as a process could likely at least in my opinion leave young children having Grandmother Fish read to them with more questions than answers (including perhaps even perpetuating some of the common evolution based errors, which Jonathan Tweet fortunately does try to consider and deal with in his supplemental information section but which probably at least in my opinion could be avoided to an extent if the main body of his narrative did not kind of show that we seemingly have descended from one fish, then one reptile, then one mammal in a linear and straightly moving forward fashion).
Two stars for Grandmother Fish (for while I do find the book has been a decent enough attempt to present the theory of evolution to very young children, I for one have indeed found the overly elementary depiction and analyses of the evolutionary process presented as not all that conducive to actually having younger children sufficiently grasp the latter as a scientific fact and truth, with the lack of secondary resources, the non inclusion of a bibliography with suggestions for further study and research really and truly much annoying me on an academic and intellectual level). And furthermore, while I have aesthetically found Karen Lewis' accompanying illustrations bright and descriptive, sorry, but the facial features of especially the depicted fishes and reptiles look rather creepily smiling and even our primate cousins to and for my tastes appear as much too cartoon like and artificially jocular.
And thus, while I have most definitely and to a point found Grandmother Fish both interesting and enlightening, not to mention engagingly and entertainingly presented (although the title in my opinion could really be a bit more gender neutral, such as perhaps Ancestor Fish), the lack of clarity and resulting potential confusions of the deliberately very easy, uncomplicated textual descriptions of evolution as a process could likely at least in my opinion leave young children having Grandmother Fish read to them with more questions than answers (including perhaps even perpetuating some of the common evolution based errors, which Jonathan Tweet fortunately does try to consider and deal with in his supplemental information section but which probably at least in my opinion could be avoided to an extent if the main body of his narrative did not kind of show that we seemingly have descended from one fish, then one reptile, then one mammal in a linear and straightly moving forward fashion).
Two stars for Grandmother Fish (for while I do find the book has been a decent enough attempt to present the theory of evolution to very young children, I for one have indeed found the overly elementary depiction and analyses of the evolutionary process presented as not all that conducive to actually having younger children sufficiently grasp the latter as a scientific fact and truth, with the lack of secondary resources, the non inclusion of a bibliography with suggestions for further study and research really and truly much annoying me on an academic and intellectual level). And furthermore, while I have aesthetically found Karen Lewis' accompanying illustrations bright and descriptive, sorry, but the facial features of especially the depicted fishes and reptiles look rather creepily smiling and even our primate cousins to and for my tastes appear as much too cartoon like and artificially jocular.
October 23, 2015
My almost 8 year old read this to me. It's written on a preschool level but has sections and concepts in it that can easily be elaborated on for older kids. It was helpful for me that it was for younger kids as it gave me a starting-point for discussion. My son really enjoyed talking about the family tree in the back and picked-up how the language "long, long, long, long, long time ago..." versus "long, long time ago...", etc represented a time line. We discussed how the book was for younger kids but was still very interesting to discuss. Great conversation starter.
January 4, 2016
Grandmother Fish is a beautiful book on the broader (and finer) points of Human Evolution. A great great great GREAT introduction to the science of evolution!! And for those of you digitally inclined the book PDF is FREE via the website: http://www.grandmotherfish.com/
February 7, 2017
Travel back with me through the Earth’s history, back into the farthest reaches of time when the sand we walk today was still rock and the oceans of an entirely salination. Back back back we go to, oh about 13 years ago, I’d say. I was a library grad student, and had just come to the shocking realization that the children’s literature class I’d taken on a lark might actually yield a career of some sort. We were learning the finer points of book reviewing (hat tip to K.T. Horning’s From Cover to Cover there) and to hone our skills each of us was handed a brand new children’s book, ready for review. I was handed Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story by Lisa Westberg Peters, illustrated by Lauren Stringer. It was good, so I came up with some kind of a review. It was, now that I think about it, the very first children’s book review I ever wrote (talk about evolution). And I remember at the time thinking (A) How great it was to read a picture book on the topic and (B) That with my limited knowledge of the field there were probably loads and loads of books out there about evolution for small children. Fun Fact: There aren’t. Actually, in the thirteen years between then and now I’ve not seen a single evolution themed picture book come out since the Peters/Stringer collaboration. Until now. Because apparently two years before I ran across Our Family Tree author Jonathan Tweet was trying to figure out why there were so few books on the subject on the market. It took him a while, but he finally got his thoughts in order and wrote this book. Worth the wait and possibly the only book we may need on the subject. For a while, anyway.
Let’s start with a fish. We’ll call her Grandmother Fish and she lived “a long, long, long, long, long time ago.” She did familiar fishy things like “wiggle” and “chomp”. And then she had ancestors and they turned out to be everything from sharks to ray-finned fish to reptiles. That’s when you meet Grandmother Reptile, who lived “a long, long, long, long time ago.” From reptiles we get to mammals. From mammals to apes. And from apes to humans. And with each successive iteration, they carry with them the traits of their previous forms. Remember how Grandmother Fish could wiggle and chomp? Well, so can every subsequent ancestor, with some additional features as well. The final image in the book shows a wide range of humans and they can do the things mentioned in the book before. Backmatter includes a more complex evolutionary family tree, a note on how to use this book, a portion “Explaining Concepts of Evolution”, a guide “to the Grandmothers, Their Actions, and Their Grandchildren for your own information to help you explain evolution to your child”, and finally a portion on “Correcting Common Errors” (useful for both adults and kids).
What are the forbidden topics of children’s literature? Which is to say, what are the topics that could be rendered appropriate for kids but for one reason or another never see the light of day? I can think of a couple off the top of my head, an evolution might be one of them. To say that it’s controversial in this, the 21st century, is a bit odd, but we live in odd times. No doubt the book’s creators have already received their own fair share of hate mail from folks who believe this content is inappropriate for their children. I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that it ended up on ALA’s Most Challenged list of books in the future. Yet, as I mentioned before, finding ANY book on this subject, particularly on the young end of the scale, is near impossible. I am pleased that this book is filling such a huge gap in our library collections. Now if someone would just do something for the 7-12 year olds . . .
When you are simplifying a topic for children, one of the first things you need to figure out from the get-go is how young you want to go. Are you aiming your book at savvy 6-year-olds or bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 3-year-olds? In the case of Grandmother Fish the back-story to the book is that creator Jonathan Tweet was inspired to write it when he couldn’t find a book for his daughter on evolution. We will have to assume that his daughter was on the young end of things since the final product is very clearly geared towards the interactive picture book crowd. Readers are encouraged to wiggle, crawl, breathe, etc. and the words proved capable of interesting both my 2-year-old son and my 5-year-old daughter. One would not know from this book that the author hadn’t penned picture books for kids before. The gentle repetition and clincher of a conclusion suggest otherwise.
One problem with turning evolution into picture book fare is the danger of confusing the kids (of any age, really). If you play it that our ancestors were monkeys, then some folks might take you seriously. That’s where the branching of the tree becomes so interesting. Tweet and Lewis try hard to make it clear that though we might call a critter “grandmother” it’s not literally that kind of a thing. The problem is that because the text is so simple, it really does say that each creature had “many kinds of grandchildren.” Explaining to kids that this is a metaphor and not literal . . . well, good luck with that. You may find yourself leaning heavily on the “Correcting Common Errors” page at the end of the book, which aims to correct common misconceptions. There you will find gentle corrections to false statements like “We started as fish” or “Evolution progresses to the human form” or “We descended from one fish or pair of fish, or one early human or pair of early humans.” Of these Common Errors, my favorite was “Evolution only adds traits” since it was followed by the intriguing corrective, “Evolution also take traits away. Whales can’t crawl even though they’re descended from mammals that could.” Let’s talk about the bone structure of the dolphin’s flipper sometime, shall we? The accompanying “Explaining Concepts of Evolution” does a nice job of helping adults break down ideas like “Natural Selection” and “Artificial Selection” and “Descent with Modification” into concepts for young kids. Backmatter-wise, I’d give the book an A+. In terms of the story itself, however, I’m going with a B. After all, it’s not like every parent and educator that reads this book to kids is even going to get to the backmatter. I understand the decisions that led them to say that each "Grandmother" had "grandchildren" but surely there was another way of phrasing it.
This isn’t the first crowd-sourced picture book I’ve ever seen, but it may be one of the most successful. The reason is partly because of the subject matter, partly because of the writing, and mostly because of the art. Bad art sinks even the most well-intentioned of picture books out there. Now I don’t know the back-story behind why Tweet paired with illustrator Karen Lewis on this book, but I hope he counts his lucky stars every day for her participation. First and foremost, he got an illustrator who had done books for children before ( Arturo and the Navidad Birds probably being her best known). Second, her combination of watercolors and digital art really causes the pages to pop. The colors in particular are remarkably vibrant. It’s a pleasure to watch them, whether close up for one-on-one readings, or from a distance for groups. Whether on her own or with Tweet’s collaboration, her clear depictions of the evolutionary “tree” is nice and fun. Plus, it’s nice to see some early humans who aren’t your stereotypical white cavemen with clubs, for once.
I look at this book and I wonder what its future holds. Will a fair number of public school libraries purchase it? They should. Will parents like Mr. Tweet be able to find it when they wander aimlessly into bookstores and libraries? One can hope. And is it any good? It is. But you only have my word on that one. Still, if great grand numbers of perfect strangers can band together to bring a book to life on a topic crying out for representation on our children’s shelves, you’ve gotta figure the author and illustrator are doing something right. A book that meets and then exceeds expectations, tackling a tricky subject, in a divisive era of our history, to the betterment of all. Not too shabby for a fish.
For ages 3-6.
Let’s start with a fish. We’ll call her Grandmother Fish and she lived “a long, long, long, long, long time ago.” She did familiar fishy things like “wiggle” and “chomp”. And then she had ancestors and they turned out to be everything from sharks to ray-finned fish to reptiles. That’s when you meet Grandmother Reptile, who lived “a long, long, long, long time ago.” From reptiles we get to mammals. From mammals to apes. And from apes to humans. And with each successive iteration, they carry with them the traits of their previous forms. Remember how Grandmother Fish could wiggle and chomp? Well, so can every subsequent ancestor, with some additional features as well. The final image in the book shows a wide range of humans and they can do the things mentioned in the book before. Backmatter includes a more complex evolutionary family tree, a note on how to use this book, a portion “Explaining Concepts of Evolution”, a guide “to the Grandmothers, Their Actions, and Their Grandchildren for your own information to help you explain evolution to your child”, and finally a portion on “Correcting Common Errors” (useful for both adults and kids).
What are the forbidden topics of children’s literature? Which is to say, what are the topics that could be rendered appropriate for kids but for one reason or another never see the light of day? I can think of a couple off the top of my head, an evolution might be one of them. To say that it’s controversial in this, the 21st century, is a bit odd, but we live in odd times. No doubt the book’s creators have already received their own fair share of hate mail from folks who believe this content is inappropriate for their children. I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that it ended up on ALA’s Most Challenged list of books in the future. Yet, as I mentioned before, finding ANY book on this subject, particularly on the young end of the scale, is near impossible. I am pleased that this book is filling such a huge gap in our library collections. Now if someone would just do something for the 7-12 year olds . . .
When you are simplifying a topic for children, one of the first things you need to figure out from the get-go is how young you want to go. Are you aiming your book at savvy 6-year-olds or bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 3-year-olds? In the case of Grandmother Fish the back-story to the book is that creator Jonathan Tweet was inspired to write it when he couldn’t find a book for his daughter on evolution. We will have to assume that his daughter was on the young end of things since the final product is very clearly geared towards the interactive picture book crowd. Readers are encouraged to wiggle, crawl, breathe, etc. and the words proved capable of interesting both my 2-year-old son and my 5-year-old daughter. One would not know from this book that the author hadn’t penned picture books for kids before. The gentle repetition and clincher of a conclusion suggest otherwise.
One problem with turning evolution into picture book fare is the danger of confusing the kids (of any age, really). If you play it that our ancestors were monkeys, then some folks might take you seriously. That’s where the branching of the tree becomes so interesting. Tweet and Lewis try hard to make it clear that though we might call a critter “grandmother” it’s not literally that kind of a thing. The problem is that because the text is so simple, it really does say that each creature had “many kinds of grandchildren.” Explaining to kids that this is a metaphor and not literal . . . well, good luck with that. You may find yourself leaning heavily on the “Correcting Common Errors” page at the end of the book, which aims to correct common misconceptions. There you will find gentle corrections to false statements like “We started as fish” or “Evolution progresses to the human form” or “We descended from one fish or pair of fish, or one early human or pair of early humans.” Of these Common Errors, my favorite was “Evolution only adds traits” since it was followed by the intriguing corrective, “Evolution also take traits away. Whales can’t crawl even though they’re descended from mammals that could.” Let’s talk about the bone structure of the dolphin’s flipper sometime, shall we? The accompanying “Explaining Concepts of Evolution” does a nice job of helping adults break down ideas like “Natural Selection” and “Artificial Selection” and “Descent with Modification” into concepts for young kids. Backmatter-wise, I’d give the book an A+. In terms of the story itself, however, I’m going with a B. After all, it’s not like every parent and educator that reads this book to kids is even going to get to the backmatter. I understand the decisions that led them to say that each "Grandmother" had "grandchildren" but surely there was another way of phrasing it.
This isn’t the first crowd-sourced picture book I’ve ever seen, but it may be one of the most successful. The reason is partly because of the subject matter, partly because of the writing, and mostly because of the art. Bad art sinks even the most well-intentioned of picture books out there. Now I don’t know the back-story behind why Tweet paired with illustrator Karen Lewis on this book, but I hope he counts his lucky stars every day for her participation. First and foremost, he got an illustrator who had done books for children before ( Arturo and the Navidad Birds probably being her best known). Second, her combination of watercolors and digital art really causes the pages to pop. The colors in particular are remarkably vibrant. It’s a pleasure to watch them, whether close up for one-on-one readings, or from a distance for groups. Whether on her own or with Tweet’s collaboration, her clear depictions of the evolutionary “tree” is nice and fun. Plus, it’s nice to see some early humans who aren’t your stereotypical white cavemen with clubs, for once.
I look at this book and I wonder what its future holds. Will a fair number of public school libraries purchase it? They should. Will parents like Mr. Tweet be able to find it when they wander aimlessly into bookstores and libraries? One can hope. And is it any good? It is. But you only have my word on that one. Still, if great grand numbers of perfect strangers can band together to bring a book to life on a topic crying out for representation on our children’s shelves, you’ve gotta figure the author and illustrator are doing something right. A book that meets and then exceeds expectations, tackling a tricky subject, in a divisive era of our history, to the betterment of all. Not too shabby for a fish.
For ages 3-6.
April 13, 2021
Great book, its hard to find stories about the beginning that are not religious! Loved it.
March 20, 2017
I'm pretty torn on this book. On the one hand, the concept is great and the illustrations very captivating. On the other hand, the text seems to be aimed at 2 year-olds? ("[Grandmother fish] could wiggle and swim fast. Can you wiggle? And she had jaws to chomp with. Can you chomp?") Evolution is a crazy complicated subject to get across to kids who are still trying to understand yesterday, today, & tomorrow. The end matter, on the other hand, is really fabulous and would be really great for older kids (Gr. 2 and up).
April 1, 2018
An interactive picture book that will engage the youngest readers as they learn about evolution. I appreciated all the back matter to help aid adults talk about the subject more with kids.
May 25, 2022
This was the perfect picture book for introducing the concept of evolution to my younger kids. The youngest 2 yrs. enjoyed the sing-songy phrases and the interactive portions of each page. While my oldest 11 yrs was able to gain more knowledge through the more in-depth pages in the back, which led us to have some lengthy discussions and Q & A.
It was a cute story with wonderful illustrations for little ones just to enjoy the story. I honestly enjoyed the extra pages at the back, which include, "A Guide to the Grandmothers...."( with key talking points), a list of common mistaken errors and examples of what to say to help your children correct any misunderstandings. The "Evolutionary Family Tree" was a favorite of all the kids, they enjoyed following the branches to see where each group or animal connected with another. This tree diagram alone led to many questions and discussions.
I chose this picture book for the sole purpose of introducing the subject of evolution, which will then lead to other subjects in later homeschool unit studies. I am pleased with how well this fits our needs with simple concepts for the little ones. This is a book that will be read many times through our history/science units.
It was a cute story with wonderful illustrations for little ones just to enjoy the story. I honestly enjoyed the extra pages at the back, which include, "A Guide to the Grandmothers...."( with key talking points), a list of common mistaken errors and examples of what to say to help your children correct any misunderstandings. The "Evolutionary Family Tree" was a favorite of all the kids, they enjoyed following the branches to see where each group or animal connected with another. This tree diagram alone led to many questions and discussions.
I chose this picture book for the sole purpose of introducing the subject of evolution, which will then lead to other subjects in later homeschool unit studies. I am pleased with how well this fits our needs with simple concepts for the little ones. This is a book that will be read many times through our history/science units.
March 20, 2018
Great kid's book. Get your kids accustomed to science early.
January 16, 2021
I backed this book on Kickstarter way back when, and I’m so glad I did. It’s a great introduction to evolution and continues to be a favorite of my five year old. It’s a little simple for my seven year old, but he still likes it too, and the material in the back allows for excellent expansion.
September 6, 2020
Perfect introduction to evolution for young children
July 5, 2017
I would have normally given this book a review of only three stars but most of my complaints in the presentation was answered by the author in the back of his book. As I was complaining to my sister why should we start with a fish upon discussing evolution and that the book should be much older but then again as the author points out a fish is much easier for a child to relate with than bacteria or even perhaps a wormy-type ancestor.
The story was very well written and rather simple in its format. Each section was introduced with the name of the group going to be discussed such as fish, reptile, etc. before getting into introducing the "grandma". From there it gave the reader a chance to know what the grandmother could do that was special in a sense and then asked the reader to participate in copying that action if you are one who likes to follow along. From there it described her children and the leading to the next grandmother on the tree.
I truly enjoyed the illustrations for they were brightly colored and lent more a focus to the desirable attributes. Although I could argue the looks of hominid I think that in the long run the child reader will be able to easily grasp the similarities and the very subtle differences.
Again what sold me the most on this book was the information in the book. There was a large bright tree of evolution with a bit of an introduction to other species in the same group. And then there was a Q&A as well as a let's correct the evolutionary myths. With the simple and easy presented facts it is sure to educate in a fun way a subject that raises so many arguments.
The story was very well written and rather simple in its format. Each section was introduced with the name of the group going to be discussed such as fish, reptile, etc. before getting into introducing the "grandma". From there it gave the reader a chance to know what the grandmother could do that was special in a sense and then asked the reader to participate in copying that action if you are one who likes to follow along. From there it described her children and the leading to the next grandmother on the tree.
I truly enjoyed the illustrations for they were brightly colored and lent more a focus to the desirable attributes. Although I could argue the looks of hominid I think that in the long run the child reader will be able to easily grasp the similarities and the very subtle differences.
Again what sold me the most on this book was the information in the book. There was a large bright tree of evolution with a bit of an introduction to other species in the same group. And then there was a Q&A as well as a let's correct the evolutionary myths. With the simple and easy presented facts it is sure to educate in a fun way a subject that raises so many arguments.
October 26, 2016
GRANDMOTHER FISH: A CHILD’S FISH BOOK OF EVOLUTION by Jonathan Tweet explores the concept of evolution using easy to understand examples.
The picture book introduces each branch on the tree of life with familiar examples and engages readers through active questioning. The consistent format, colorful illustrations, and predictable approach contribute to the book’s appeal.
The end notes include an evolutionary tree of life, science notes for parents, and ideas for explaining natural selection to children.
Librarians will find this well-written book to be a useful addition to the primary grade science curriculum. Involve students in exploring a branch of the evolutionary tree of life and create a mural in the library.
To learn more about the book and author, go to http://www.grandmotherfish.com/.
Published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan on September 6, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.
The picture book introduces each branch on the tree of life with familiar examples and engages readers through active questioning. The consistent format, colorful illustrations, and predictable approach contribute to the book’s appeal.
The end notes include an evolutionary tree of life, science notes for parents, and ideas for explaining natural selection to children.
Librarians will find this well-written book to be a useful addition to the primary grade science curriculum. Involve students in exploring a branch of the evolutionary tree of life and create a mural in the library.
To learn more about the book and author, go to http://www.grandmotherfish.com/.
Published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan on September 6, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.
April 16, 2018
My best friend heard about this book and put it on her son’s wishlist for his bday. I got the chance to read it over the weekend and was quite impressed by it. It felt like it would do a good job of explaining evolution to kids, and there’s also some extra notes at the end if parents want to go even more in depth with an older child. I loved how the evolution kept building up so by the end kids could see what traits they still have in common with their evolutionary ancestors. There’s also the opportunity for interaction bc with each ancestor the children are asked to do a couple of actions that their ancestors could do, which I think would be fun for the kids. Her son’s just turning two so I think this book is still a little advanced for him so I didn’t get the chance to see it in action, but all of us adults quite enjoyed it when we did an impromptu storytime for ourselves haha. ;o)
August 26, 2022
I can't think of a better way for a young children's book to lay the foundation of evolutionary theory for them in a relatable way. A few reviews I read criticized the book for oversimplification that can lead to misunderstanding, but evolution is not intuitively understood, and a small child cannot possibly grasp all the concepts (most adults don't either!). But presented here, I think it gives a child the seed of understanding, and there's even a greater lesson: you, me, and every creature who has ever been or will be are related. We are different, but come from the same places, no matter what seemingly strange routes that has taken.
Parents and caregivers should read the book ahead of time, especially the information at the end of the book and try to grasp the basic concepts of evolution. Pre-school aged children is who I think this book is best for.
Parents and caregivers should read the book ahead of time, especially the information at the end of the book and try to grasp the basic concepts of evolution. Pre-school aged children is who I think this book is best for.
December 14, 2016
Nice picture book explanation of evolution. I think this would go over the heads of preschoolers, but beginning elementary would understand some of the concepts. The illustrations are well done, and the accumulation of verbs describing the abilities of various species was helpful.
There's a parent/teacher note, definitions of evolutionary concepts, and further details about each animal mentioned, in the back of the book.
Good first start with science!
There's a parent/teacher note, definitions of evolutionary concepts, and further details about each animal mentioned, in the back of the book.
Good first start with science!
February 12, 2018
Oddly enough I had a 5th grader ask me about the theory of evolution before this book arrived. The picture book story part of the book is pretty cute and doesn't go very deep into any science or theory. There is a whole section at the back with a lot more science and a note from the author guiding the ADULT or older student to read about the science. I think this is a nice, careful way to present a theory that has both believers and dissenters.
December 28, 2016
Brilliantly written and illustrated. The guides at the end are especially helpful. G and J and I had wonderful and insightful conversations while reading. The author presents evolution in a clear and concise manner that is easily relatable for children, but still factual and not at all "dumbed down."
January 13, 2015
This really fills a niche. Clear explanation of evolution that young children can understand.
December 12, 2016
An appealing and engaging introduction to a complex subject for younger readers.
January 3, 2017
An engaging simulation of having your children play "Simon Says" with Richard Dawkins.
January 29, 2017
Good intro to evolution for younger children. I wish the family tree picture at the end had been more incorporated into the story, since my kids found seeing how everything is related interesting.
August 4, 2018
3.5/5
A beautiful little book that uses simple language to engage very young children with the (beginnings of the) concept of evolution. Though I think the book is a good start for those wanting to share the theory with children, I feel that perhaps the work is a little too simplistic to succeed in its attempts. For example, each of the animals (working "down" the evolutionary tree to humans) is still called "grandmother," and even though adults understand that a grandchild can eventually become a "grandmother," I think some younger children may be confused as they recognize that one person can have more than one grandmother living at the same time.
However, the authors included a short guide at the back of the book for adults and older children looking for a more direct explanation of evolution to read and interpret for themselves or others. I think this is handy for adults looking to provide more sufficient explanations for their children than the book was able to offer, but I'm curious as to why that information in the back was not used to construct a book for slightly older children. Very young children do not have a grasp of the concepts that lead to understanding of evolution (reproduction, adapting to your environment, long periods of time, etc.), so I wonder as to why the author's decided to write the book for the audience that they did.
I've digressed though, and what very young children will get out of this book, colorful drawings and a chance to interact with the text physically through prompts for movement and sound-making, makes this a worthwhile purchase for science-minded parents, guardians, and educators.
A beautiful little book that uses simple language to engage very young children with the (beginnings of the) concept of evolution. Though I think the book is a good start for those wanting to share the theory with children, I feel that perhaps the work is a little too simplistic to succeed in its attempts. For example, each of the animals (working "down" the evolutionary tree to humans) is still called "grandmother," and even though adults understand that a grandchild can eventually become a "grandmother," I think some younger children may be confused as they recognize that one person can have more than one grandmother living at the same time.
However, the authors included a short guide at the back of the book for adults and older children looking for a more direct explanation of evolution to read and interpret for themselves or others. I think this is handy for adults looking to provide more sufficient explanations for their children than the book was able to offer, but I'm curious as to why that information in the back was not used to construct a book for slightly older children. Very young children do not have a grasp of the concepts that lead to understanding of evolution (reproduction, adapting to your environment, long periods of time, etc.), so I wonder as to why the author's decided to write the book for the audience that they did.
I've digressed though, and what very young children will get out of this book, colorful drawings and a chance to interact with the text physically through prompts for movement and sound-making, makes this a worthwhile purchase for science-minded parents, guardians, and educators.
May 9, 2018
I wanted to read Grandmother Fish after seeing it referenced in reviews of other books about evolution, as the idea of a childrens book to introduce the topic sounded fascinating. I have to say that I am very impressed with the book.
Grandmother Fish is clearly written with a very young audience in mind - perhaps toddlers to first graders? - but can probably be used with kids slightly older than that. Adults that have difficulty explaining the basic concepts of evolution may find it useful to read the notes for parents/teachers/babysitters/etc in the back, which take the most basic concepts, break them down into one to two sentence chunks, and explain them with examples. There's also a page that addresses common misunderstandings and explains why those misunderstandings are incorrect. I also very much liked the artwork. A lot of the illustrations had a colored pencil look to them for me, and I really liked how it meshed with the narrative.
Overall, I found Grandmother Fish to be a simple but accurate intro the evolutionary concepts for young children. It is a book that I am likely to purchase (the copy I read was from my local library) and it is a book that I would recommend.
Grandmother Fish is clearly written with a very young audience in mind - perhaps toddlers to first graders? - but can probably be used with kids slightly older than that. Adults that have difficulty explaining the basic concepts of evolution may find it useful to read the notes for parents/teachers/babysitters/etc in the back, which take the most basic concepts, break them down into one to two sentence chunks, and explain them with examples. There's also a page that addresses common misunderstandings and explains why those misunderstandings are incorrect. I also very much liked the artwork. A lot of the illustrations had a colored pencil look to them for me, and I really liked how it meshed with the narrative.
Overall, I found Grandmother Fish to be a simple but accurate intro the evolutionary concepts for young children. It is a book that I am likely to purchase (the copy I read was from my local library) and it is a book that I would recommend.
May 10, 2021
"This is our Grandmother Fish. She lived a long, long, long, long, long time ago."
Admittedly, trying to tailor the concept of evolution to 3 and 4 years olds is a tough job for anyone, but I think given the complex nature of the topic, this book does an excellent job of depicting the overall ideas in an age-appropriate way. The illustrations are playful with lots of movement and joy. The text aims to relate children to the different animals by asking questions: can you squeak? can you cuddle?
I think this book might need a little extra explanation to the child (depending on readiness)--like *how* did we transition from fish to reptiles to mammals? How long did it take?
The illustration of the evolutionary family tree at the back I think is a helpful one. What's nice about that, though, is it visually tells a different story than the text. The family tree says: all life on earth is related. The text of the book seems to say: the whole point of evolution was to get to humans.
Overall I think this is a great option for an evolution book for the preschool age range! It's a tough subject to simplify but I like and appreciate this version.
Admittedly, trying to tailor the concept of evolution to 3 and 4 years olds is a tough job for anyone, but I think given the complex nature of the topic, this book does an excellent job of depicting the overall ideas in an age-appropriate way. The illustrations are playful with lots of movement and joy. The text aims to relate children to the different animals by asking questions: can you squeak? can you cuddle?
I think this book might need a little extra explanation to the child (depending on readiness)--like *how* did we transition from fish to reptiles to mammals? How long did it take?
The illustration of the evolutionary family tree at the back I think is a helpful one. What's nice about that, though, is it visually tells a different story than the text. The family tree says: all life on earth is related. The text of the book seems to say: the whole point of evolution was to get to humans.
Overall I think this is a great option for an evolution book for the preschool age range! It's a tough subject to simplify but I like and appreciate this version.
December 31, 2018
Interesting approach to starting to teach/talk about evolution with kids. There's a big emphasis on what species can do as opposed to features they have. The book traces to humans, but I think it does a good job of showing lots of different branches. Humans aren't some pinnacle of evolution; humans are just us, so we're talking about what we can do and what our ancestral species could do.
There are some good resources in the backmatter for discussion or for older kids to read on their own. These clarify a number of points on which people are often confused about evolution (many of which aren't really addressed by the main text).
The family of humans that lived "a long time ago" is dressed in stereotypical indigenous clothing, and that's the thing that makes me most uncomfortable about the book. The incorrect belief that there aren't really still Indigenous people doesn't need to be reinforced, even in this indirect way.
There are some good resources in the backmatter for discussion or for older kids to read on their own. These clarify a number of points on which people are often confused about evolution (many of which aren't really addressed by the main text).
The family of humans that lived "a long time ago" is dressed in stereotypical indigenous clothing, and that's the thing that makes me most uncomfortable about the book. The incorrect belief that there aren't really still Indigenous people doesn't need to be reinforced, even in this indirect way.
February 25, 2021
Grandmother Fish is a great story to share with young readers when learning about evolution. This story contains wonderful illustrations that connect well to the idea of evolution. This story could be easily tied into any lesson about evolution and how organisms have changed over time to become what they are today. The way this story is written makes it accessible to most young readers and uses language that they would understand. The illustrations also allow for comprehension because they are very detailed and show children how things have evolved into what we know them as today. This book could be tied into a science unit very easily and it would provide students with relevant information in a fun way. This story presents evolution in a unique story format that would be very interesting to students. I think this book would be a great addition to any classroom library because it is fun and informative.
May 16, 2017
Tweet, Jonathan. Grandmother Fish, PICTURE BOOK. Feiwel and Friends, 2015. $17.99.
Starting with Grandmother Fish, the reader sees the evolution of various animals from reptiles to mammals, to apes, to humans. Each animal has a very short description of how they can move and function. At the end of the book there is an evolutionary family tree.
This is a really well done book. The illustrations are really bright, colorful and detailed and help add substance to the book. It encourages the reader to compare themselves to the various animals to demonstrate if they can breathe, cuddle, crawl, grab, etc. The graphic maps help to show the correlation between the different animals and how they evolved.
EL (K-3), EL- ESSENTIAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
Starting with Grandmother Fish, the reader sees the evolution of various animals from reptiles to mammals, to apes, to humans. Each animal has a very short description of how they can move and function. At the end of the book there is an evolutionary family tree.
This is a really well done book. The illustrations are really bright, colorful and detailed and help add substance to the book. It encourages the reader to compare themselves to the various animals to demonstrate if they can breathe, cuddle, crawl, grab, etc. The graphic maps help to show the correlation between the different animals and how they evolved.
EL (K-3), EL- ESSENTIAL. Reviewed by Shay, School Librarian
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
March 21, 2025
Absolutely top-notch. Will help older children and adults gain a better grasp on what Evolution by Natural Selection is, and what it is not. Explains how lineages work, what the branches on the 'tree' of natural history mean and how they work... and why the tree is not often drawn as a tree anymore.
Most of the best details are, naturally, in the plentiful back matter. I especially like the page "correcting common errors." But the main text is clear & illuminating, too. Appealing and attractive illustrations also help tell the 'story.'
If you would have trouble explaining evolution to a child, whether or not you have responsibility for one, please read this book. You'll enjoy it, and you'll have a firmer grasp on just how life on Earth has developed and is continuing to do so.
Most of the best details are, naturally, in the plentiful back matter. I especially like the page "correcting common errors." But the main text is clear & illuminating, too. Appealing and attractive illustrations also help tell the 'story.'
If you would have trouble explaining evolution to a child, whether or not you have responsibility for one, please read this book. You'll enjoy it, and you'll have a firmer grasp on just how life on Earth has developed and is continuing to do so.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews