Customer Reviews

The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Never have I waited for the release of a picture book with such eager anticipation! Over the past year or so I have watched hundreds of children become charmed by the story of the Pout Pout Fish , so I opened this one up with bated breath and loads of expectations. The great news is that this one more than lives up to its predecessor!

The illustrations are colorful, whimsical and drawn with so much humorous detail that kids will enjoy repeatedly exploring them. The rhymes are never forced and the author has mastered that storyteller's rhythm that makes for a great read aloud. This stands out as a lighthearted approach to a very real fear that most children have - fear of the dark. It's not scary, and the repeated message that our Pout Pout is indeed too fast and brave and smart to really be scared of the dark is a good one. This one is very fun to read and I am very excited over the prospect of reading it to my regular story time crowds. It's a bit longer than the original Pout Pout but still well within the range for a good preschool read aloud. The message that friends help each other is always a winner, and the repeating (very clever) refrain as Pout Pout Fish convinces himself that he is brave enough to help his friend both mark this one as an excellent choice for story time. Congratulations to the author for delivering another great read and making all of us library story readers sound so good!

I was a little disappointed after reading this book for the first time. It is not as good as the first one. The flow of the story and the ease of the rhyme are missing. As another reviewer commented, the rhyming does seem forced and clumsy in certain parts of the book. The story itself is nice. It's about friendship, encouragement, and conquering your fears with the help of a friend. The illustrations are just as beautiful as the first book. The Pout-Pout Fish is a super fun read and easily one of my favorites, but The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark is just okay. I will say that my son loves this book just as much as the first, so I guess in the end, that is all that matters.

"The Pout-Pout in the Big-Big Dark" is funny and sweet and a great Read-Aloud and I don't know why it hasn't received more press and more reviews here at Amazon and elsewhere.

A follow-up to The Pout-Pout Fish, in this book Pout-Pout leaps into action when Ms. Clam loose her pearl. Trying to calm the distraught mussel, Pout-y promises to bring it back, and thus he sets off follows the errant pearl down hill and into deeper waters.

Everything goes alright until it begins to get dark. Then Pout-Pout begins to have second thoughts. A voice in the dark though -- that cute lady fish from the first book-- helps him through the trying moments, as other aquatic buddies do before and after.

THE SKINNY:::
A nice message about friendship here, as well as one about how, with a little confidence, we can overcome our fears. I really like Pout-Pout Fish's mantra which includes strong positive points to offset his fear.

The books refrain is:

'I'm FAST as a sailfish,
I'm STRONG as a shark,
I'm SMART as a dolphin,
But I'm SCARED OF THE DARK!'

Pam T~
mom/blogger
booksforkids-reviews

My granddaughter loved "The Pout Pout Fish," and she loves the follow-up. Diesen creates music with her words, and the illustrations are gorgeous. A wonderful book for toddlers and, as a bonus, a good lesson for adults.

We have eagerly awaited this publishing from the first publishing & it was well worth it. We love the Pout Pout fish & how they've connected the two books is
great! My son (3.5) read the first book too death, and he picked-up on how this one relates to the first. Great story line, and lesson learned! Love it!

This is a terrific follow-up to Pout-Pout Fish. It's a fun, lively story. The illustrations are beautiful. Kids will love the humor -- and feel brave -- as they follow Pout-Pout Fish into the Big-Big Dark.

A fantastic follow-up to the original, The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark is a whimsical journey into the ocean depths. The illustrations are fun and a bit cheeky (neon signs for deep sea anglers), Dan Hanna even incorporated my favorite - a sunfish! Well done and we look forward to another sequel.

The illustrations in this picture book are clever and cute...deep sea life portrayed in beautiful colors with silly designs. My son loves the book and flips through the pages, but zones out in the story. As an adult reading it, it annoys me to death. For one thing, some of the rhymes are forced, and some phrases are just weird "A doozy of a drowsy?" "Heap-deep"?

It also has an extremely pushy moral to the story which I think is sort of annoying for parent AND child. The idea of a group working together for a common goal is great, but it's not necessary to beat us over the head with it. It just lacks a certain sense of humor, like it's trying to hard to teach and not just be a simple and enjoyable story.

Additionally, from a real life standpoint, if you are trying to help a kid overcome their fear of the dark, this in no way is helpful, unless a lantern fish happens to live in their bedroom.

So I thought the first Pout Pout Fish book was WAY BETTER than this one. This one was actually quite a let down for both myself and my boyfriend. While our baby isn't with us just yet, so it will be awhile before we get his opinion; my boyfriend IS a first grade elementary school teacher and I believe they much preferred the first book as well.

My son picked this book out at a preschool book sale 3 months ago. He still loves this book and we read it almost daily. The repeating phrases of being fast as a sailfish, strong as a shark, smart as a dolphin but scared of the dark is a big hit.