i love chris raschka. this book is awesome. ( )

Arlene is a tiny fish who would like to be a sardine one day. The narrator walks the reader through the process of how Arlene turns into a sardine. At first, Arlene is in the ocean with tons of other fish just like her. Then she gets caught in a net and is put into an ice chest on a boat. Since she is out of the water, Arlene ends up dying, but the story continues. The narrator then tells the reader about how Arlene is processed and packaged into a sardine container. This book has caused some controversy because some people believe it is about depression and having thoughts of suicide since Arlene wanted to become a sardine, which would involve her dying. I did not get this from the book until I saw the critiques of it. Looking back no, I can kind of see that in this story, but I do not think children would get that message from reading this story. ( )

Loved Raschka's visual appeal - the cover is so clever, and the vibrant illustrations match Arlene's sweet vitality for life. I think the story activates discussion on vocabulary - readers need to understand what a sardine is (a dead fish) and can then start to anticipate that by wishing to be one, Arlene is in for quite the surprise. Although she is happy once she achieves sardine-status, is it worth it to become something she truly is not? ( )

Arlene is a fish who dreams of becoming a sardine, but does she really know what that means?

Another great tale by Chris Raschka, this colorful book could be used to discuss the idea of death with children. ( )

Once again Chris Raschka uses brightly colored illustrations to aid in this sad yet actually lovely story of a fish who wishes to become a sardine. Arlene is unaware that achieving this goal means she will die, but in the end she has accomplished her goal. This could generate great discussions by readers who will certainly interpret the meaning/lesson in various ways. ( )