The results are ethereal and soft-his mice are textured with the fuzzy edges of fine, handmade paper, and his seaweed forests look like lace. His characters are brought to life via paper cutouts (including cutouts of painted paper), as well as inventive manipulations of paint, including stamping and pressing. Lionni, who was a painter and sculptor, produced some of the most beautiful illustrations I’ve ever seen. A close second to Frederick might be Swimmy, the story of a little black fish who is not like the other red fish in the nearby schools, who teaches the other fish around him to be brave, so that they might explore the wonders of the ocean together.

The descriptions of the creatures Swimmy encounters will make you say, “Oh, my, yes! That’s exactly what it’s like!” I especially like the lobster “who walked about like a water-moving machine” and the eel “whose tail was almost too far away to remember.Leo Lionni wrote and illustrated more than forty children’s books in his lifetime, but the one which is the most meaningful to me might be his most famous: Frederick, the story of a little field mouse who keeps his family warm in the middle of a cold winter, by reciting poetry that is so beautiful and so evocative of sunnier seasons. The words are wonderful too, simple but so lyrical and perfect. Water-color is the lovely for a story set entirely under the sea. The water-color illustrations are wonderful. Just right.īut the sea was full of wonderful creatures, and as he swam from marvel to marvel Swimmy was happy again.

And all these BIG topics are handled with a light, clear touch. This is a book about grief, fear, friendship, and the ways beauty and purpose heal us. But it works just as well in the classroom and at home, to help little readers ponder how important they can be to one another. Personally, I have used it at work to train authors, bloggers, and podcasters how to succeed at collaborative marketing. Why haven’t you read it?!? There is so much in this book! Swimmy shows his friends how-with ingenuity and team work-they can overcome any danger.” Their watery world is full of wonders, but there is also danger, and the little fish are afraid to come out of hiding. “ The gorgeous, Caldecott Honor-winning tale of a very clever fish by beloved picture book creator Leo Lionni.ĭeep in the sea lives a happy school of fish.

Swimmy book