School of Fish: Ready-to-Read Level 1

by Jane Yolen, Mike Moran (Illustrations)

From acclaimed, prolific author Jane Yolen comes a Level 1 Ready-to-Read story bursting with all the excitement and a little bit of the nervousness that color a fish’s first day at a new school.

I look around.
What do I see?
Another fish who’s just like me!
A little scared.
A little new.
All alone and feeling blue.

Starting at a new school is never easy, but it can also be really exciting. Beginning readers can follow along as one intrepid little fish goes through the many emotions associated with a new school experience!

Genres: School, Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Back To School, Friendship

32 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2019

About the author

Jane Yolen was a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who wrote more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lived in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Chance Lee]

Jane Yolen puts the same word four times on a page and calls it poetry.
Poetry poetry poetry poetry

[Dax]

I wanted them to add more but overall this was pretty good. I rather enjoy the counting to help get your nerves under control!!

[Cheryl]

This exemplifies what I find frustrating about so many leveled readers. This one is a middle level, called Star Reader by Ready-to-Read from Simon Spotlight, with the note "Easy sight words to sound out * Simple plot and dialogue Familiar topics and themes"

Never mind the poor grammar of the blurb, I now see the loophole that allows so much dross to be published. If the idea is that familiar topics and themes will provide scaffolding to the child who is still figuring out individual words, still focused on decoding, I understand and support that strategy. *However* it's all too easy for authors to rely on outdated stereotypes and negative themes. All children deserve thoughtful, insightful, and engaging stories, not cliches.

This book is boring. Yolen's verse is mostly fine, but the illustrations show things that make me wish that Moran had thought it out more. Why, for example, cannot the main character have been the one with glasses, instead of the sidekick? And why didn't anyone tell the kid that his school-bus is a shark? And how does that even work?

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*]

School of Fish by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Moran. EARLY READER. Simon Spotlight (Simon & Schuster), 2019. $18. 9781534438897

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Told in the first person, with plenty of rhyming, this is the story of a little grey fish who is off to school. On the way he faces several fears and obstacles but he uses the mantra “Wait! Count to ten. Think about calm seas, and then…”

This is a lovely little story that reads well at an early first grade level. There is a good message about fears and friendship, but it isn’t heavy handed. So, while I imagine students will enjoy their first reading, I do not think that many readers will pick this up for a second reading, making the price tag a little steep.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Shauna Yusko]

I know it’s a beginning reader but I was actually disappointed with this one.

[Naomi]

This book was on display at the Tates Creek Public Library as a newly published book. The story line is very relatable to children so is more engaging. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and cartoonish and do a good job of depicting the text. The story is from the point of view of a fish who is going to his first day at a new school. He is confident until he gets to the bus and then he gets nervous. He misses his parents and gets upset with another fish, but by the end of the story he makes a fish friend who was nervous like he was. This book is great for early readers with repetitive words, simple vocabulary, and some rhyming words. I would not recommend this book as a read aloud because of the simplicity. This book is great for Kindergarten and first graders at a level one easy reader who needs easy sight words, a simple plot and dialogue, and familiar topics and themes. This book would be good for a early elementary classroom library for students to choose during independent reading.

[Heidi]

School of Fish follows the adventures of a young fish attending school for the first time. At first he's full of confidence, until the unexpected happens when he sees the head of a shark. After making it on the bus, he finds himself alone and nervous. He takes a moment to count to ten and calm down, but the day isn't over. Fortunately, he remembers to calm himself down as he deals with homesickness, annoying classmates, and being alone. Things take a turn for the better when he decides to reach out to another who is also alone. The simple text reads smoothly, which is always a great accomplishment when it comes to rhyming text. But I would expect no less from Jane Yolen. The illustrations are bright and colorful and very appealing. This book provides a fun way to help children learn about facing the unexpected and dealing with what can often be overwhelming emotions. A story that works on many levels, both in terms of fun and in terms of leading to some important conversations between parent/guardian and child or teacher and child. I'll probably use this one with my kindergarten classes.

[Erin Buhr]

Bright and cheerful, this is a fun back to school book to hand your first or second grader who is beginning to read a little more independently. This little fish experiences all the ups and downs in emotions that come with a First Day of School. The text is fairly brief on each page but the page count is a little higher than some early readers. We particularly loved that a shark encounter is thrown in since we discovered it during our July shark week obsession. A fun back to school early reader!

[Jesse]

What I expected to be a first day of school jitters book was so much more! Rather then just showing that everyone is nervous, the book gives actual advice of how to work through it: stop, count to ten, and think of calm seas. It would certainly help me!

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams]

I love how this School of Fish series goes through my of the situations and emotions that children may face when going to school and I love the count to ten - and think of something calming technique that Jane Yolen repeats through this series.

[Mary Anne]

It was fine for an early reader.
Pictures were cute.

I can't help but compare anything by Jane Yolan to her An Invitation to the Butterfly Ball, which is a masterpiece that leaves this one in the dust.

But, you know, this is cute.

[Rose Rosetree]

Readers may relate to the excitement of a fish’s first day at a new school. But, to this reader of the fish story, there's something akin to an elephant in the schoolroom.

This is my third fishy picture book by Jane Yolen. Once again, there's a problem that I can't get my head around. Or my eyes.

Everything is supposed to be happening underwater, right?

So how can we have illustrations where students are riding in a bus that's perfectly dry? With a shiny red backpack, for instance, that's perfectly dry!

For me, these illustrations strain credulity, even for a reader of fiction. Once again, Jane delivers a story that's supposed to take place underwater, kinda-sorta but not really.

My imagination works fine. For that reason, when the author creates a word that is inconsistent with its own premises, ouch!

RATING THIS BOOK

My policy, Goodreaders, is to rate books based on the likely reactions of the intended readership. I imagine that the eager readers, at Level 1 yet, won't have enough bandwidth to mind that credulity hasn't just been strained but has snapped.

FIVE STARS it is then.

It takes all kinds to make a world of Goodreaders.

[Sarah T.]

Super cute book about a fish being new in "school." I'm definitely saving this for storytime.

[Miss Sarah]

A young fish dreads his first day of school will it go better than he thought? Preschool and up

[Alice]

3 stars for this emergent reader

[The Book Box]

August 2020: Time for back to school books!

[Chinook]

Talking about the rhyming was a highlight and I liked the concept behind thinking of calm seas and counting to relax and master emotions but I’m not sure it came across clearly to the girls.

[Seamus Heinrich]

This book was just right for a first grader to read.

[KaitandMaddie]

The shark bus is confusing. Why would they chose that???

[Michelle]

My 6 year old daughter was almost able to read this by herself.