Ugly Fish enjoys the simple pleasures in life and when a new fish arrives in his tank, he is extremely reluctant to share. So reluctant, in fact, that he has a particular method of dealing with the arrival of any new fish. He eats them. “‘I am Ugly Fish’, said Ugly Fish. ‘And there’s only room for one fish in this tank – ME!’” So it goes for Teensy Fish, Kissy Fish, Stripy Fish, and Spotty Fish. Eventually, though, Ugly Fish does begin to learn his lesson. He is lonely and unhappy in the tank by himself, and wishes he had welcomed the new fish differently. He resolves to greet any future new arrivals with open arms. Enter Shiny Fish. Indeed, things do go differently with Shiny Fish…but I believe it would be hard to say Ugly Fish is any happier.
This is a darkly comic story in the vein of Tadpole’s Promise and is always a jaw-dropping experience for the audience. It is best suited for older storytime crowd, who won’t be distressed over the fates of the poor fish. It is a story ripe for voice work, as each fish seems to lend itself to a particular way of speaking. Shiny Fish, for example, provides a great opportunity for a slick, gangster-type voice, while Teensy Fish needs more of a high-pitched, excited voice. Don’t miss the last page where readers get their first view of the tank from the exterior. It’s much smaller than you imagine while reading the story and someone in the audience always gets a kick out of it.
Check the WRL catalog for Ugly Fish.
A fun experiment i’ve been doing with this book
i’ve been handing it to both males and females and seeing their reactions, so far 100% of the males have chuckled at the end of the book while all but one female I’ve handed it to have gone “awwwwwww” (the other laughed herself silly)