The Fish With A Wish

The Tired But Crafty Mummy
Book Club:
The Fish With A Wish

“William is sad to see his friends in trouble, caused by the amount of plastic being thrown into our seas and oceans.
With the help of Angel Fish, he is given the strength and courage to be able to swim through the ocean to save some of his friends. It doesn’t take long before they come across Tommy, Walter and Salty who are all in need of William’s help.
With a ‘splish and a splosh and a splosh and a splish’, William becomes the ‘fish with a wish’.
With all of his might, he manages to save them all so that they are free from the plastic that is making them feel so sad.
William would like us all to think about how we can stop plastic being thrown into the sea. Let us all help William and encourage our parents, friends and family to think about how much plastic we buy and how we can recycle it.”

Mummy’s Review

Looking after our world is something that is on so many people’s minds at the moment. Greta Thunburg has done an amazing job at making the world think about climate change and how we can make small changes in our lives to make a difference.  Recently, Tesco announced that they would no longer be making multipacks of tins wrapped in plastic but instead only selling tins singularly.  Sainsburys have stopped providing plastic bags for loose fruit and vegetables and are instead selling reusable bags, although there’s still so much plastic in prepacked fruit and veg!  Fingers crossed the other supermarkets will follow their lead in reducing the single use plastic we have forced upon us.

I really believe that if we are going to tackle the issues of pollution and plastics we need to begin educating our children whilst they are young so they grow up in a culture where they are encouraged to be mindful of their plastic consumption and to love the world around them.  This seems like such a massive subject, it could be difficult to know where to begin.  Thankfully, wherever there is a huge topic that needs discussing with children, there is also a fantastic book to help them to understand it on their level.

We were really delighted to be gifted a copy of The Fish With A Wish from Austin Macauley Publishers.  The bright and colourful pictures immediately grab you and make you want to pick up the book to read it.  It is all about William a fish who is sad because of the damage that has been done to the ocean by humans and particularly about the effect it is having on his friends.  Thankfully, an Angel Fish decides to help William and they travel through the ocean saving as many animals as they can.  As they tour the ocean, it allows the reader to see the damage being done to the animals by the plastics which end up in the sea such as a whale with a tummy filled with carrier bags and a seagull tangled up in the plastic from a 6 pack of beer.  The book finishes by asking the reader to grant William’s wish of stopping plastics going into the sea.

The story rhymes making it fun to listen to.  The phrase ‘William became the fish with the wish’ recurs in the story making it easy for children to join in with the story too.  The book is pitched perfectly and so gently educates the reader about plastic in the sea without going over their head and blinding them with science.  The pictures are really beautifully drawn and children will particularly like the nod to the comic book starburst behind William which happens after he has helped a friend suggesting he is a superhero!

This book is a fantastic way to introduce your child to the idea that we need to use less plastic and help to reduce the amount of plastic going into the ocean.I would thoroughly recommend it.

Rory’s Review

A little while ago, I went to Spain and whilst playing on the beach I saw how much plastic pollution filled the oceans and I was determined to put a stop to it.  I waded through the sea, trying to pull out as much plastic as I could and putting it into the bin.  William the Fish is just like me.  He sees the dangerous pollution in the ocean and it makes him feel sad.  With the help of Angel Fish, he swims through the sea to save Tommy, Walter and Salty from the plastic.  Now it’s up to YOU to save the planet.
I really enjoyed reading The Fish With A Wish.  I read the story to my little brother, Rowan and he loved it too.  The pictures are life like and look like they could come alive any second.  The story is written to rhyme which makes it fun to read.  This modern day book helps us learn about the terrible plastic pollution which we put into the oceans and it reminds us that we can make a little change to help.  I really recommend this book and I would give it 10/10.