Publishers Weekly
12/04/2023
In a story with echoes of both “The Fisherman and His Wife” and The Carp in the Bathtub, a brown-skinned girl encounters a fish whose one wish-granting catch proves key to change. After other children, portrayed with various abilities and skin tones, head indoors, lonely Kiki Karpovich finds a giant fish stranded on the asphalt and carries it home. Revived in Kiki’s family bathtub, the fish offers to grant one wish. Kiki’s request for friends prompts an apology—“I am a fish of small wishes,” Arnold writes—and with every “too big” wish, the girl notices the fish growing. Seemingly concerned over its well-being, Kiki acts bravely and, through her actions, sees all of her wishes come true. Mora’s strokes of gouache, layered with inks, colored pencil, and digital collage, depict a blue-green world bubbling with possibility in this folktale-feeling work. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
★ "Well suited to reading aloud, this imaginative narrative...glow[s] with warmth and color." — Booklist, starred review
"A sweet...lesson about finding your voice." — Kirkus Reviews
"This pleasantly eccentric picture book will remind readers that wishes don’t always require magic to be fulfilled." — BCCB
"Strokes of gouache...and digital collage, depict a blue-green world bubbling with possibility in this folktale-feeling work." — Publishers Weekly
"Fantastical and down-to-earth." — Horn Book Magazine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-10-07
A fish helps a young girl forge connections.
Kiki Karpovich, a brown-skinned girl with thick dark hair, doesn’t have a lot of friends. Shy and quiet, she notices something glistening in the street. It turns out to be a huge fish mouthing the word help. Kiki rushes the fish home, fills the bathtub, and places the fish inside. It then reveals itself to be “a fish of small wishes.” Kiki wishes for more friends, but that proves to be too big of a wish for the fish to handle. Her wish to be less shy is met with the same response, and when Kiki asks for help digging a big hole in her courtyard (for reasons that become clear only later), the fish repeats itself. So Kiki swallows her shyness, calls for help, and makes friends as the whole neighborhood unquestioningly pitches in, making a safe home for the fish to live in and granting Kiki her wishes at the same time. It’s a sweet story but a bit uneven, with stray lines that feel out of place and a slow, understated tone. Mora’s smudgy, saturated artwork depicts a racially diverse community. The author’s note in the back, describing Arnold’s Jewish family’s practice of buying live carp for gefilte fish, has more life in it than the preceding tale.
A quiet lesson about finding your voice. (Picture book. 4-7)
