Book review of Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson

Fish are super cool, right? For starters, they can breathe underwater; they come in a glorious array of sizes, shapes and colors; and they’ve starred in beloved animated films, too. But the narrator of the wonderfully hilarious Don’t Trust Fish thinks we shouldn’t be so quick to praise our fishy so-called friends, instead warning in big bold letters, “DON’T TRUST FISH!”

It’s not easy to craft a laugh-out-loud story, but Irish playwright and novelist (When the Sparrow Falls) Neil Sharpson gets it just right in his picture book debut. As does National Book Award-winner (A First Time for Everything) and Caldecott Medalist (The Adventures of Beekle) Dan Santat, with witty illustrations sure to inspire even more giggling as readers eagerly discover why the highly aggrieved narrator insists we should not trust fish.

As the book opens, the narrator calmly shares interesting details about mammals, reptiles and birds accompanied by photorealistic illustrations, as one might expect in an animal guide. But it soon becomes clear they just can’t get over the otherworldly mystique and unpredictability of fish. As the illustrations grow more colorful and their lines more relaxed, sedately scientific language is peppered with warnings like, “Fish don’t follow any rules” and “Some fish eat poor, innocent crabs who are just trying to have a nice time in the sea.”

Then things escalate: “Fish spend all their time in the water. Where we can’t see them. . . . Are they plotting our doom?” Even worse, a whale shark is “the largest fish in the world. It’s the size of a bus. That’s not okay.” And the angler fish? Well, it lives in the dark ocean depths and employs bioluminescence to “[attract] poor defenseless crabs by glowing.”

By the time readers realize the narrator is (surprise!) an indignant crab with an unshakable anti-fish fixation, they’ll have learned and laughed many times over. Don’t Trust Fish is an educational and highly entertaining delight sure to inspire interest in oceanography and ichthyology—and lots of rereads. (Just don’t tell any crabs you may know!)