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10 Fish Books for Kids: They Don’t Get Betta Than This

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Tracy Shapley Towley

Staff Writer

Tracy is a freelance copywriter, all-around ne’er do well, very-adult graduate of the University of Iowa, and occasional waterer of plants. Her hobbies include writing fiction, reading fiction, mixing together various flavors of soup, and typing letters to her friends on an old red typewriter that doesn't have a working period so all sentences must end in questions marks or exclamation points? She has read every Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and has a lot of thoughts on them. Her old Iowa farmhouse is shared by her husband Sean, a pair of cats, a pair of dogs, and the ghost of Kurt Vonnegut.

Are your kids fishy about fish? That’s not a good pun, but this is a good list of fish books for kids! Some are board books and some are picture books, some are pure fiction and some are nonfiction, but each is meant to send your kid splashing for, um, happiness? Somebody write me a post about books about fish puns, stat.

Fiction Fish Books for Kids

pout pout fish book cover

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna

If you’re born a pout-pout fish, are you forever stuck as a pout-pout fish? If a kid wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, are they destined to have a terrible day or can they act better than they feel? In this board book, kids will learn the truth about “dreary wearies,” and what they can do to shake them off.

Fantástico Bilingual Picture Books

Only One You by Linda Kranz

There are plenty of stories that tell kids how unique they are, but not all of them also discuss that being unique can be a blessing and can be very uncomfortable. This brilliant, boldly illustrated board book does a great job of letting young readers know that we are all unique and it’s okay to embrace that fact and be weary of it at the same time.

Cover of The Fish Who Found the Sea

The Fish Who Found the Sea by Alan Watts and Khoa Le

This picture book follows a poor fish who cannot seem to stop chasing its own fishy tale. Thankfully the deep blue sea was there to help get him straightened out and on his way to happiness.

Finn the Fish: A Story about Friendship by Lyric Dwayne Quenun

Who better to write fish books for kids than an actual kid? Finn the Fish was written by 9-year-old Lyric Dwayne Quenun and is based on his real experience with a friend being bullied. This is ultimately a story about friendship but, more importantly, it is a story about fish!

Little White Fish by Guido van Genechten

Little White Fish can’t find his mom and doesn’t know how to get back home. Thankfully a host of sea creatures are there to help him find his way back to the place he feels safe.

Nonfiction Fish Books for Kids

Fish books for kids

Fish for Kids: A Junior Scientist’s Guide to Diverse Habitats, Colorful Species, and Life Underwater by Kevin Kurtz

If you’re looking for nonfiction fish books for kids who love truth-telling in their fishy books, this is a great choice. It includes hands-on activities and ideas for aquariums, fun fish facts for kids, and profiles of both saltwater and freshwater fish.

Nonfiction fish books for kids

All Fish Faces: Photos and Fun Facts about Tropical Reef Fish by Tam Warner Minton and Carla King

For kids who love tropical reef fish, weird fish faces, and their ocean friends, there are tons of fun facts, photos, and a lot more in this unique kids book about fish.

Grandmother Fish

Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution by Jonathan Tweet and Karen Lewis

There’s a lot to learn about fish, including their important part in the process of evolution. For the kid who thinks they know all there is to know about fish, Grandmother Fish gives them a chance to learn how fish fit into the greater world of the animal kingdom.

Freaky Funky Fish

Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts about Fascinating Fish by Debra Kempf Shumaker and Claire Powell

Facts are great but freaky, funky, and odd facts are even better. This adorable picture book uses science to show just how unique and interesting the world really is — especially the world of fish.

Wandering Whale Sharks by Susumu Shingu

Kids who love the biggest and baddest of all things will love this gentle book about the largest fish in the world: the whale shark. Only recently translated to English, this has been a favorite of Japanese kids since the early 1990s.


For more fun in the sea, check out a list of ocean books for kids!