Review: Where is Little Fish?

Lucy Cousins's Little Fish, who was first featured in the 2006 book Hooray for Fish, returns in two new board books, Where is Little Fish? and Count with Little Fish.

Little Fish will delight readers with his new fishy adventures in the deep blue ocean.

In the story Where is Little Fish? babies and toddlers will enjoy lifting the durable flaps to see where Little Fish is hidden. At the end of the story there is a lovely aw moment, when  Little Fish is found with who he loves the most.

As readers play hide and seek with Little Fish, they are introduced to the language of sea animals and the ocean environment, though both words and pictures that include: corals, shells, crabs, oysters with their pearls, seaweed and even a sunken treasure chest.

In Count with Little Fish toddlers are taken on another ocean journey where they meet many different fish. As readers turn the pages they can practice counting fish from 1 to 10. The characters are illustrated with a variety of bold colours and decorations.

The story of Count with Little Fish is filled with alliteration and onomatopoeia 'Five fat fish. Splish, splosh, splash!'

In both books, Where is Little Fish? and Count with Little Fish, Cousins uses bright colours that attract babies and toddlers to the page. She masterfully uses rhyme and repetition along with picture cues to help beginner readers to read the story from memory.  Cousins combines her illustrations with words to extend a child's vocabulary to include descriptive language of colours, patterns, shapes and sizes.

Once you have finished reading these books, take a look at some of the other stories created by Lucy Cousins: Splish, Splash, Ducky! I'm the Best or Maisy Goes to the Bookshop.

Title: Where is Little Fish? / Count with Little Fish
Author/Illustrator: Lucy Cousins
Publisher: Walker Books, $11.99 each
Publication Date: 1 April 2018
Format: Board Book
ISBN: 9781406374186 / 9781406374193
For ages: 1 - 3
Type: Board Books