The Blobfish Book

March 7, 2016
Slotting somewhere between Mélanie Watt’s Chester books and Mystery Science Theater 3000, Olien’s spoof of dry, nonfictional picture books delivers big laughs, thanks to a pink blobfish eager for its moment in the spotlight. The book-within-a-book premise lets readers flip through a photographic title, The Deep Sea Book, about the denizens of the deepest parts of the ocean. But for a pink cartoon blobfish popping up among photos of viperfish, anglerfish, and other creatures, the pages suffer from a serious lack of attention to its own species. Worse, when the blobfish spread finally arrives, it’s a rude awakening: “The blobfish was once voted the world’s ugliest animal,” writes Olien, mimicking the straightforward tone of an informational children’s book. The blobfish erupts into tears, but its fellow deep-sea creatures come to the emotional rescue. “I know how you feel,” says the northern stoplight loosejaw, spiky teeth agape. “Everyone thinks I’m scary, but I’m really small and nice.” Blobfish’s antics and wildly vacillating emotions are what make the book so much fun, but the photographs of and information about ocean life gives it additional depth, so to speak. Ages 4–8. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

Starred review from May 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-A misunderstood deep-sea dweller gets its moment in the sun in this tongue-in-cheek informational picture book. The bubble-gum pink blobfish is sketched onto the pages of a nonfiction work that presents facts about and photos of the fascinating creatures that live miles beneath the ocean surface. Snappy dialogue balloons and humorously exaggerated cartoon features convey the impatient critter's mental "fin-twiddling" as it waits to hear about its own species. When the big moment arrives, delight turns to dismay as the protagonist discovers that "the blobfish was once voted the world's ugliest animal." Tears and self-doubt ensue. However, it doesn't take long for the other deep-water denizens-now embellished with expressive cartoon eyes and speech balloons of their own-to chime in with a bit of empathy and a crayoned letter of support. Additional facts about the featured animals and their environment, along with a list of web resources, are appended.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016
The world's ugliest animal speaks up. In the tradition of Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky's Moose and David Ezra Stein's Interrupting Chicken, Blobfish takes over a book about deep-sea creatures, inserting itself into every page. A straightforward text about deep-sea life, a sentence or two set on a background of photographs, is interrupted on every double-page spread by an impatient cartoon blobfish and its own commentary. When its photograph finally appears, the text notes that it "was once voted the world's ugliest." Naturally, its feelings are hurt. At this point, the other animals--viperfish, jellyfish, jewel squid, anglerfish, blenny fish, giant spider crab, and northern stoplight loosejaw--acquire speech bubbles too, banding together to make their own crayoned page with a message of support. The humor is grand, the informational value modest. Olien has juxtaposed creatures that may live far apart in real life. On a diagram of ocean zones (with only English measurements), Blobfish points to the 13,000-foot line between the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zone to show where he lives "in the deep, deep part"; since there is yet another zone below 20,000 feet, readers will wonder exactly what "deep, deep" means. Moreover, in truth, blobfish seem to live around 2,000-4,000 feet down. They also probably look quite different at their proper depth; the photo in the book was taken at the surface. Further facts and suggestions for websites to explore are added in the backmatter. Fine for a metafictive read-aloud but not so great as science. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

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April 1, 2016
Grades 1-3 The creator of Shark Detective! (2015) rescues another misunderstood denizen of the deep from bad press. A chubby pink cartoon blobfish repeatedly photobombs a gallery of wonderfully eerie, close-up photographs of a toothy viperfish, a bioluminescent jellyfish, and other exotic marine fauna. He's desperate to be included. Look at me! Blobfish can be fancy, too! His pleas are answered at last with a large headshotand the devastating (true) observation that the blobfish has been voted the world's ugliest animal. Cue weeping hysterics, until, in a handy bit of photoshopping, the photographed creatures gather round in sympathy, presenting the cartoon blobfish with a set of supportive messages (drawn in crayon on a sheet of notebook paper). Olien opens her gallery with a chart of pelagic zones and informative pages of additional facts. Readers will definitely understand why the votes on the accurately named blobfish went the way they did but may come away inclined to judge it a bit less harshly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016
A pink cartoon blobfish offers commentary ("Wow! So pretty!") on stunning color photos of various deep-sea creatures. It also bemoans the lack of blobfish representation--until the much-anticipated blobfish spread, which declares: "the blobfish was once voted the world's ugliest animal." The other animals must do damage control. This amusing story comes with a side order of information. Additional facts appended. Reading list.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)