January 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 3 Evidently inspired by an old saying (sometimes wrongly attributed to Einstein) related to teaching a fish to climb a tree, the first section of this Australian picture book poses a series of short questions that ask whether a certain animal can perform a task that it's actually ill-equipped to do. Kids will quickly learn that each question leads to the same answer: "No." However, the second section of the book revisits each animal and, in contrast, mentions something that it can do. For example, maybe penguins can't "be taught to sing opera," but they can huddle together to "keep each other warm in the coldest place on Earth." Godwin's succinct, well-worded text lends itself well to reading aloud during classroom and library storytimes. Children will enjoy shouting out "No!" repeatedly in the book's first half, figuring out each animal's special ability in the second section, and answering the final question, "What do YOU like to do?" at length. Denton's colorful, playful illustrations brighten every page with multiple characters and intriguing details. An imaginative picture book.
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