A child asks for a pet and can’t believe all the amazing animals around her in the pet store.

A parrot or a chameleon? A rabbit, kitten or puppy. What about a rat or a lizard!

But no. They leave with a plastic bag full of water and a small orange FISH!

Everyone knows – “If it’s wet, it isn’t a pet!“

Unimpressed, this child imagines all the things she can do with other types of pets that she can’t do with a fish.

She could “Play with a puppy, cuddle a cat, snuggle a rabbit, and pat a pet rat.“

But a fish? None of that.

She stares and glares into the fish bowl, imagining all the things she is missing out on with any other kind of pet. But the more she watches her new pet, the more she sees. Maybe she has misjudged this tiny orange creature after all?

Ruth Paul is a masterful picture book writer and illustrator, and her many awards prove it. You Can’t Pat a Fish is yet another treat for young readers and listeners. A joy to read aloud with easy flowing rhyme and rhythm and all the animals children could ever wish to love, this is going to be a favourite in the classroom and at bedtime.

Many young readers will sympathise that a fish doesn’t compare to a kitten or puppy, but Paul proves us all wrong with a wee fish that inspires the imagination in a little girl’s world.

I’ll be looking for this one in awards line ups! 

(2025, Walker Books Australia, Harper Collins NZ, NZ, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Fish, Pets, Animals, Funny, Humour, Rhyme, Award winning NZ author & Illustrator, Pet store, Imagination, Wonder)