A lonely pet fish longs to know what exists in the world beyond her bowl. “I wish I could see over there / Behind the wall, / Behind the chair.” She imagines a giant tree, a wooly goat, and a purple sea.
She wonders if there could be someone out there who looks like her. So, she leans close to the glass and hears some fish-like cries! “Hello? Is someone there?” she hears. “Are you a bird? / Are you a bee? Or are you a fish with fins like me?” She realizes there’s another fish close by and his name is Mike!
When Mike asks what her world is like, the amazing watercolor fish has a great idea. “I’ll show Mike what I think could be!” Using watercolors, she paints a picture of a world with trees and swirling rainbows. Every day she paints more, “birds that swim, / ships with wings, / and books that do all sorts of things!” Then Mike uses his paint to illustrate more “than just the water and the door.”
In this fun bilingual picture book, with a wonderful rhyming Spanish translation by former Texas Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla, two pet fish imagine a beautiful, mysterious world beyond their bowls. Children ages 4-8 will love following the progression of Carolyn Dee Flores’ gorgeous illustrations from black and white to full color as the fish become friends. Kids will be inspired to imagine—and maybe even paint or write about—a world beyond the one they know.
Click here to listen to a read-along by Carolyn Dee Flores.
Click here to listen to an interview with Carolyn Dee Flores about her book, The Amazing Watercolor Fish
“What if we could create the life we want? What would it look like? A lonely pet fish does just that when she begins to dream about a world beyond her bowl. She meets another fish, and the two set off on a journey of discovery. This beautiful picture book features Flores’ rhyming words and colorful illustrations with Spanish translation by former Texas Poet Laureate Carmen Tafolla.”—Houston Chronicle
“A lovely, mind-expanding idea for young readers, and the shift from black and white to color is a clever conceit. Spanish-literate readers will get an evocative take on two fish and their shared vision of a world they’ll never see.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Two fish, or dos peces, talk to each other from across their bowls, separated by a row of books. Imaginations run wild in alternating verses that rhyme in both English and Spanish as they speculate what wonders might exist in the vast world beyond. Watercolor brushes and palettes submerge until sepia tones with bold backgrounds blend into a rainbow explosion of far-off islands and castles, flying ships, fantastical creatures, and two very special peces.”—Foreword Reviews
“Both Flores’ English and Tafolla’s Spanish rhyming poetry reflect their own and each other’s playfulness with the story, words and syntax, and together, present a rare cultural and linguistic collaboration. They have created two different and compatible ways of looking at the world; two kinds of poems that work beautifully and bounce off the art.”—De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children
“The Amazing Watercolor Fish / El asombroso pez acuarela is unreservedly recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library Bilingual Picture Book Collections.”—Midwest Book Review
CAROLYN DEE FLORES is the illustrator of several books, including A Surprise for Teresita / Una sorpresa para Teresita (Piñata Books, 2016); Dale, dale, dale: Una fiesta de números / Hit It, Hit It, Hit It: A Fiesta of Numbers (Piñata Books, 2014) and Canta, Rana, canta / Sing, Froggie, Sing (Piñata Books, 2013). A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she lives in San Antonio, Texas.
CARMEN TAFOLLA, great-granddaughter of Santiago Tafolla and a native of San Antonio, Texas, is an award-winning poet, educator and children’s book author. A member of the Texas Institute of Letters, she is a recipient of the Art of Peace Award for writings which promote peace and justice.
ATOS Interest Level: Lower Grades
Category: Picture Book
ATOS Spanish:1.7
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 51426 SP
