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Don't Trust Fish

Author Neil Sharpson

Illustrated by Dan Santat

Hardcover

$18.99 US

Penguin Young Readers | Dial Books

8.81"W x 11.38"H x 0.41"D | 13 oz | 24 per carton

On sale Apr 08, 2025 | 40 Pages | 9780593616673

Age 3-7 years

Reading Level: Lexile AD470L | Fountas & Pinnell O

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An absurdly laugh-out-loud funny picture book about the villainy of fish, illustrated by National Book Award-winning creator Dan Santat

"A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on." —Kirkus, starred review

Why, dear reader, must you NEVER EVER trust fish?

1) They spend all their time in the water where we can’t see them.
2) Some are as big as a bus—that is not okay.
3) We don't know what they're teaching in their "schools."
4) They are likely plotting our doom.

This nature-guide-gone-wrong is a hilarious, off-the-rails exploration of the seemingly innocent animals that live in the water.

Neil Sharpson lives in Dublin with his wife and their two children. A veteran playwright and novelist, Neil was inspired to write his first picture book, Don't Trust Fish, when he realized someone needed to warn the world about the villainy and unpredictability of fish. Don't Trust Fish was a national bestseller and received six starred reviews. Ever dedicated to helping humans understand animals, Neil was inspired to write his second picture book, Help! I'm Being Eaten by a Bear when he realized someone needed to prepare the world for unexpected bear encounters.

Dan Santat is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of over a hundred books, including the National Book Award winning graphic memoir A First Time for Everything. His picture book The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend received the Caldecott Medal. He also illustrated The Blur, Lift, and Drawn Together, written by Minh Lê, which received critical acclaim. Dan is also the creator of the Disney animated hit The Replacements. He lives in Southern California with his family. View titles by Neil Sharpson

Dan Santat is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of over a hundred books. His picture book The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend received the Caldecott Medal. He also illustrated The Blur, Lift, and Drawn Together, both written by Minh Lê, which received critical acclaim. Dan is also the creator of the Disney animated hit The Replacements. He lives in Southern California with his family. View titles by Dan Santat

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Featured in Slate's "The 25 Greatest Picture Books of the Past 25 Years"
Publishers Weekly Best Picture Books of 2025

★ "[A] rapid-fire comedy of piscine paranoia." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on." —Kirkus, starred review

★ "With exceptional timing in a dry comic voice, veteran playwright and novelist Sharpson's picture-book debut is immersively silly fun, while award winner Santat's always-superb art lands at every possible visual punch line." —Booklist, starred review

★ “Sharpson and Santat's co-creation is a symbiotic marvel.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review

★ “Wonderfully hilarious…Don’t Trust Fish is an educational and highly entertaining delight, sure to inspire interest in oceanography and ichthyology—and lots of rereads.” —BookPage, starred review

★ "A must for every library. It is accessible to young and old, wildly entertaining, and effortlessly instructive."—School Library Journal, starred review

“Consider a book that makes everybody, and I do mean everybody, laugh from the cover onwards. THAT, my friends, is a picture book worth celebrating! That is a rarity! That… is Don’t Trust Fish.” —Betsy Bird, Fuse #8, School Library Journal

“Starting from an already comedic premise, this story goes gleefully off the rails, moving from funny to absolutely and wonderfully absurd, helped along by illustrations that build on jokes in previous spreads.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

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