THE FISH WHO COULD WISH THE FISH WHO COULD WISH

by John Bush
illustrated by Korky Paul
ISBN (PB) 0192722409
ISBN (HB) 0192798901
Oxford University Press

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In the deep blue sea,
In the deep of the blue,
Swam a fish who could wish,
And each wish would come true.

He wished for a castle,
He wished for a car,
But one day he wished
Just a little too far...

THE WISHES OF A FISH
This books is printed on high quality paper, which is pleasantly smooth to the touch.

Korky Paul's illustrations fill each page with colour and lively interest. THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is a book in which the text and drawings are almost inseparable - each complementing each other.

The wittily drawn facial expressions and posture of the fish thinking out his wishes are particularly entertaining.

The story is a mixture of fun and fantasy. John Bush has given his imagination full-reign in describing some of the dotty, yet delightful wishes made by the fish.

He wishes for a castle, a car and to go out and ski (this wish brings about a week-long snow fall under the sea).

Although the fish can wish for anything he likes, he omits to wish, like Solomon, for wisdom. This lack of sense brings about a last and unfortunate wish which the fish lives to regret.

THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is a lovely book which will be enjoyed by children as young as five-years-old. It would also make a good addition to any junior primary school library, because of the relatively short text to picture ratio.
CAPE TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW 3 SEPT 91, Shonagh Williams


A happy story with a moral about wasted opportunity - told simply against a background of cheerful, lively illustrations - gives this childrens' book an edge over those with which it competes. Ideal to spread the joy to be found in the world of print.
20 SEPT 91, EJH


The poem providing the text for this picture book 'swishes' along. The fish - who is quite a character - has plenty of wishes and the lively illustrations extend them in all ways. They are lively, colourful, imaginative pictures with a lot of wit. The one showing a hunting pack of sharks got dog-eared very quickly! This is a great book for sharing with a class, and for the children to enjoy on their own.
RECENT CHILDREN'S FICTION VOLUME 31 WINTER 91/92 Sue Stops


A jaunty orange-yellow fish with a bulging, knowing eye and expressive fins and tail stands out in a watery backing of muted greens and blues and acts out a neat parody of folk tale where extravagant wishes (for a turreted castle, a dashing sports car, 'a horse and a spanish guitar' and more ambitious life-styles) conclude in disaster because the foolish fish, weary at last of changing shapes and sizes, incautiously wishes he could be like his fellow-fish, so losing his mysterious power. Lively doggerel verse spells out the tale and its moral while a final end-paper clinches everything with a portrait of a rueful fish emitting bubbles of disappointment. A good joke cunningly promoted.
GROWING POINT JULY 91, John Beck


A story in rhyme of 'A fish who could wish / And each wish could come true'. His wishes are mostly unsuitable for they include a car, a castle, a horse and a snowy slope on which to ski under the sea. Only very occasionally does he think of a sensible wish and the one thing he never wishes is to be wise! His last wish is his final one for he wishes to be like all the other fish. As none of them is able to wish, neither can he any more.

The illustrations to this bizarre exercise of imagination are suitably fantastic. Korky Paul is a popular artist, winner of the Children's Book Award for his illustrations to WINNIE THE WITCH. THE JUNIOR BOOKSHELF JUNE 91, EC


I have always thought that illustrator Korky Paul sounds like a character from Dandy. His work is lively and cartoon-like, with witty detail and bright colours. His picture-book THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is about a red-and-yellow fish whose every wish is granted.

The fish dreams up a baroque-gothic underwater castle with sharks circling the pinnacles, a yellow convertible (with fins) roaring from a clump of waterweed, an underwater snow-scene - with snowman in snorkelling gear - and a whole wardrobe of zoot-suits. Alas, the talented fish never wishes for wisdom, and loses its gift through sheer stupidity.
HAMPSTEAD & HIGHGATE EXPRESS 11 MAR 94, Jenny Woolf

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