Fish Don’t Go to School
by Deb Pilutti; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Ottaviano/Little, Brown    40 pp.
7/25    9780316565271    $18.99

Henry loves wearing a fish costume that matches his pet goldfish, Marigold, and plans to wear it when he starts school—a milestone about which he is anxious. His parents try to reason with him; they offer reassurance and eventually bribes to go to school without the costume, but he remains unconvinced. New school clothes can’t compete with his “wonderful suit made of shiny scales, with flippery fins and a long tail.” His fish costume “felt like wearing a hug,” and, as he confides to Marigold, “What if I need a hug?” The gouache and wax pastel illustrations with “a bit of digital painting” are primarily in soothing shades of blue, making Henry in his bright orange costume the focal point of the compositions. Henry prevails and shows up on the first day in his costume. His classmates stare; no one sits near him at circle time. Things begin to change when Henry befriends Lucy, who is wearing cat ears. After meeting this kindred spirit, he slowly sheds parts of his fish suit. That he never totally abandons it displays the great respect and care with which Pilutti depicts this specific child’s experience. A picture book that should definitely “go to school,” to the library, to homes, and to wherever apprehensive kids and their peers may be.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.