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PRESCHOOL
Bernstein, Ariel

We Love Fishing!

48 pp. | Simon/Wiseman | April, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5344-3864-4 $17.99
(2) PS Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. The deadpan narrator tells one story: "Bear, Porcupine, Otter, and Squirrel love fishing." Meanwhile, the pictures tell a slightly different version. While, in the cartoon spot art, Bear, Otter, and Porcupine do look lovingly at their fishing gear ("I love fishing"), Squirrel sulks over breakfast, a poster over the table declaring "I heart acorns." As the tale goes on, the gulf between the reiteration of "Bear, Porcupine, Otter, and Squirrel" all loving fishing and the pictures showing no such thing continues to widen. Squirrel hates the long walk, the fishy smell, the sitting around, and the fur-frizzing rain; the other creatures delight in every moment. Unfortunately, the day collapses for everyone when Squirrel accidentally drops their one slippery catch, and the wordless spread showing the four staring solemnly over the side of the boat as the happy fish swims away says everything. When Squirrel pulls out a cellphone to call a taxi and offers to buy dinner, it becomes clear, finally, that while all the friends may not always love fishing, everyone loves Squirrel (including the fish, one supposes). The exaggerated expressiveness in the bright illustrations, all the way to the fishy endpapers, makes the play between art and text especially enjoyable for sharing.
Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

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