The odd fish by Naomi Jones. Illus. by James Jones

An amusing story of a fish trying to find its school has a hidden message of pollution and the despoiling of our seas as younger readers becoming increasingly aware of the damage that plastic is having on our oceans and those that call it home.

A little fish sees what he calls an odd fish. It is nothing like he has seen before and being helpful tries to help it find its way to its own school of fish. Together they travel through the seas, through the reef and out to the ocean, along the way seeing how plastic is destroying the environment. The seahorse has a straw attached to its tail, an octopus has its legs entangled in netting, a turtle is eating a plastic bag, and the number of plastic debris increases the further out from the shore they get. Finally they spy the place the odd fish belongs, with thousands of other plastic bottles and rubbish swirling around the ocean. Readers will see the huge mess of plastic that now inhabits our oceans, reefs, and shores. All children will be able to give stories of how they have found plastic rubbish as they walk along the beach and see the point of the book they have just read.

Stunning illustrations by James Jones underlines the impact of plastic upon our wildlife in the sea. Readers will love picking out the detail he includes in his pages, the different inhabitants, the increasing amount of rubbish, nets, the odd ship and so on. Information on the last two pages underline the story of the book, giving detail which will interest them further. A list of websites encourages further investigation, and I am sure they will notice the amount of litter on the beaches they visit, helping collect it to put it in a bin.

Themes: Oceans, Seas, Fish, Pollution.

Fran Knight