A Fish Like Me
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“A gorgeous celebration of swimming, disability, and imagination.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
In the spirit of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and I Talk Like a River, this lyrical picture book from acclaimed author Jamie Sumner tells the story of a child in swim therapy and celebrates the ways differently abled bodies can move in the water.
Under here, there is
no top or bottom,
no left or right—
only fields of water to wander in
as topsy-turvy as I like.
Underwater, everything looks different—and every body moves differently, too. During swim therapy, a child discovers he can be anything: a catfish, a seahorse, a starfish cartwheeling across the universe. He finds the magic of moving in wholly new ways, just like he does on land in his trusty wheelchair.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An unnamed protagonist who uses a wheelchair on land rolls "under the deep blue water" of a swimming pool "like I roll under the deep blue sky with grace at a pace set by me" in this lushly imagined picture book. Through comparisons to various sea creatures, the child narrates their experience as "a starfish cartwheeling across a universe, my burble of bubbles the only sound when I breathe out" and "a catfish with legs that swish like fins." Describing their mobility aid as "my other starfish limb and just as much a part of me as my toes" and the swim therapy coach who helps them move through the water, the voice explores different kinds of movement on land and in water, noting that in both places, "I can be silly and free." Making her picture book debut, Sumner employs direct adjectives ("fearless and brave except when I'm not") to demonstrate the narrator's perspective, while gouache, colored pencil, and collage illustrations from Holzwarth (A Flicker of Hope) render the fluid underwater motions of the brown-skinned child alongside undulating flora and fauna. The result is an expansive portrait of bodily autonomy and movement. Secondary characters are portrayed with various body types and skin tones. Ages 4–8.
