FLOOD FISH

After a strong rain in the Australian outback, a child tries to imagine how the dry riverbed has become full of fish

PreSchool-Grade 3?An imaginative introduction to a natural phenomenon. When the rains return to the dry Australian Outback, the riverbanks fill with water, and the water fills with fish. Splashing and swimming, a young boy wonders where these colorful, mysterious creatures come from. Do the rocks "crack open into gills" and learn to breathe water? His sister says that the moon sows fish eggs, while his brother tells of an underground sea. According to Grandfather, the fish burrow down and lay their eggs deep in the mud. Magically, when the river dries up again, the fish all disappear, leaving no bones behind. Dense with imagery, the poetic text creates a sense of mystery and awe. Greenberg's colorful oil paintings contrast the deep blues of underwater panoramas with the dusty reds of the landscape. An author's note points out that scientists really do not know the answer to the puzzle. The silent fish swim across the page and keep their secret to themselves.?Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Striking paintings and poetic text do not add up to a viable story in this laconic picture book about a mystery of nature. In the Australian outback a boy tries to understand how the otherwise dry riverbed fills with fish right after a heavy rain: "Maybe/ the gum trees/ heavy with rain/ drop their slim, fish-shaped/ leaves,/ which float a moment/ on the water/ and then dive." The boy's sister suggests that "the moon sows fish eggs when she cries/ on the nights of high water." Eventually, more plausible explanations for the origins of the fish are offered by the boy's brother and grandfather, but, as the boy relates, "nobody knows for sure." The cryptic narrative becomes clearer with an afterword, which cites various scientific theories about the "flood fish" and identifies the location as the Finke River. Greenberg's (I Never Knew Your Name) lyrical paintings offer a stunning visual accompaniment, but the hybrid nature of the text fails to satisfy?as a story, the book lacks plot and developed characters; as educational writing, the book lacks basic information. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-6. At the heart of this quiet, intriguing picture book lies a real-life ecological puzzle. A little Australian boy wonders at the sudden appearance of fish, "big fish," in a long-dry riverbed after it floods. Neither his speculations nor his questioning of his family resolves the mystery, which, as Eversole explains in an afterword, has long intrigued and puzzled scientists. The very brief text is imaginative and almost lyrical at times, but it's the illustrations that sweep us in. The hazy double-spread oils in hot rusts, cool blues, and grass greens evoke the tantalizing mystery of things unknown while keeping us solidly tied to the here and now. Stephanie Zvirin