Swimmy

Entry Number: 20
Title: Swimmy
Author: Leo Lionni
Illustrator: Leo Lionni
Publisher: Dragonfly Books
Year: 1973
ISBN: 978-0394826202
Genre: fiction
Topics: ocean, fish, teamwork, friendship
Age Group: 0-4
Awards: Caldecott Honor (1964), ALA Notable Children's Book (1964), A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year
Dewey Category: 597
Format: Picture book

Swimmy is little black fish that loses his school of fish, his brothers and sisters, to a hungry tuna.  After swimming and swimming the depths of the sea alone, he comes across a new school of fish—one that reminds him of the school that he was once a part of.  Swimmy is accepted into the new school of red fish and is happy.  However, the school of fish are scared of the other larger creatures in the ocean and do not wish to venture out or swim too much.  But with Swimmy’s past, he teaches them to overcome their fears and to work together to gain the courage to swim and fool the big fish that wishes to devour them all.

What is most appealing in this story are the lessons of teamwork and cooperation in the face of adversity. Gentle watercolors depict underwater life in a dreamy seascape.