Don't Trust Fish - Neil Sharpson - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Neil Sharpson

ILLUSTRATOR: Dan Santat

GENRE: Children's Picture Book

PUBLICATION DATE: April 8, 2025

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A hilarious picture book that comes with a strong warning: DON’T TRUST FISH! Comic and absurd all the way. Very clever too, though this might be appreciated more by adults. Not a book for those who want messages or morals but for those who want to laugh out loud. Much recommended.

This is the debut picture book of Irish playwright and blogger Neil Sharpson. He seems to have made great use of his experience with theatre to amp up the drama in this humorous book.

There’s no plot as such. The book has a bland start akin to a nature guide: offering information on how to recognise animals. It was so matter-of-fact that I wondered what its connection was with the title. And then came the fish and the vehement warnings! 😂 With several well-reasoned arguments, the narrator aims to convince us that we should NOT trust fish. I don’t want to get into his rationale, but suffice it to say: the reasons are fairly convincing on a superficial level! 😂😂 Some of the justifications are quite absurd, but they suit the satirical tone of the book.

The book doesn’t stop at offering warnings about fish being fishy. We are even tested on our commitment to the ‘Don’t Trust Fish!’ agenda. I failed. 🤭

There’s a lovely surprise on the last page that helps make sense of not just the content but also the narrative voice. Without that inclusion, the book would have felt like unjustified discrimination against an innocent species. But this twisty reveal provides a valid reasoning for the anti-piscine debate and opens avenues for further discussion. Its cleverness pushed up my rating. Note that this twist comes after the page marked “The End”; make sure you don’t miss it.

Though seemingly simple, the text makes excellent use of word play and repetition. Some of the concepts might be a bit trickier for younger readers but the illustrations makes things easy to explain. The story makes great use of hypothetical situations and lopsided arguments to demonstrate preconditioned bias. I never thought I’d see a funny picture book be useful in developing logical thinking.

The illustrations are absolutely awesome. On some pages, they feel almost tongue in cheek. I especially loved that poor fish who was swimming lackadaisically while the narrator detailed his nefarious nature. The underwater scenes are depicted in a beautiful aqua tone, so all the fish pop out well.

This will be an excellent readaloud option as it is full of action and emotion. There’s no direct message, but not every picture book needs to be educational, and this one still offers plenty of points for discussion. The only thing is that some younger kids might not get the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm, so if they end up believing whatever the narrator says, they might just turn against fish. Adult guidance required for this.

Definitely recommended. This ought to be perfect for readers aged 3-8 years.

If you wish to hear the author narrate this book in his dramatic Irish brogue, check out this YouTube link.