Do You Speak Fish? is a book about communication. The best way to describe this is, when I posted the picture on my Facebook page, my sister replied, “No, but I speak 24.” (We call her sons/my nephews by their ages on social media). And that is true. Trying to understand him without knowing his language can be tough. He is autistic and deaf in one ear. This little guy (he’s under 6 feet, but I still see that not five-pound baby) speaks his own language. And when you read Do You Speak Fish? you realize that not everyone speaks your language.
Therefore, that fish you said Hello too is not being rude, they just do not understand you. They do not speak Kid. The child of DJ Corchin’s book learns that to make friends you need to make a little effort. Therefore, he tries to learn lion (with a little miscommunication) and share stories with the tree. The characters give us smiles, pause (and paws) and understanding.
Dan Dougherty’s illustrations are colorful, simple and show the action. There is not a lot of traditional “car chase/action” but there are the movements, the feelings presented and the text to see and interact with.
All ages can enjoy having it read to them and beginning readers can start reading, some with help, but mostly solo. It works well in a group, classroom setting or one-on-one. The only trick is, do not stop when the text seems to have stopped. Keep going to the very end for a surprise from the lion.