Fish In The Air

Fish In The Air

Written and Illustrated by: Kurt Wiese
Genre: Multicultural
Grades: K-3
Awards: Caldecott Medal

This book follows a boy by the name of Fish. Fish enjoyed any object that looked like a fish. His mother made him shoes that looked like fish and he had a lantern that looked like a fish for the Lantern Festival. It was kite season, where everyone went out to fly their kites in the fields. Fish asked his father if he could have the biggest kite that looked like a fish. They went out to the market and bought the biggest fish kite that Fish has ever seen. Once his father bought him the kite, a big wind came to take Fish flying into the air with his kite. Fish flew over everyone in the streets, going over roofs, over the fields, and even over the river. A big red hawk snatched the kite, causing Fish to fall into the river. One of the fisherman that was sleeping, woke up thinking that he caught a big fish and used his net to catch it, but turns out he caught Fish. His father came running to rescue him and Fish decided that it is better off to get the smallest fish kite.

This would be a nice book to have in the classroom library. This book would be good for Kindergartners to third graders. I would have my students draw out and design their own kite that they would like to fly and have them explain if they were taken by the wind, what kind of adventures would they go on.