A Fish Like Me
Written by Jamie Sumner
Illustrated by Devon Holzwarth
In the spirit of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners and I Talk Like a River, this lyrical picture book from acclaimed author Jamie Sumner and award-winning illustrator Devon Holzwarth, tells the story of a child in swim therapy and celebrates the ways differently abled bodies can move in the water.
Under here, there is
no top or bottom,
no left or right—
only fields of water to wander in
as topsy-turvy as I like.
Underwater, everything looks different—and every body moves differently, too. During swim therapy, a child discovers he can be anything: a catfish, a seahorse, a starfish cartwheeling across the universe. He finds the magic of moving in wholly new ways, just like he does on land in his trusty wheelchair.
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
★ “A gorgeous celebration of swimming, disability, and imagination.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Both the illustrations and the text are standouts, speaking directly to young readers, concluding, “Wherever I might be . . . there is something magical . . . about a fish like me.” A Fish Like Me is an empowering celebration of the magic of swimming and freedom of movement, a visual and literary treat in every way.”
–BookPage
“[A]n exuberant celebration of physicality . . . the bright art and the narrative’s joyful swing will make a big splash with readers. . . . A buoyant encounter with a child who uses a wheelchair and celebrates his abilities on a land and in the water.”
—School Library Journal
"Illustrations in gouache, colored pencil, and collage embody the flow of the text . . . Brief, poetic text on each page, filled with aquatic metaphor, further envelops listeners into the child’s world as he expertly moves in his own ways with gleeful energy."
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Sumner here revisits familiar themes from her previous books for older readers, combining her nuanced portrayals of young people who use wheelchairs with her exploration of competitive swimming. This combination reveals how water is not only therapeutic but an equalizer: it buoys every body. Holzwarth’s gouache, colored-pencil, and collage illustrations celebrate the joyous movement of bodies in water and the fanciful places swimming can unlock.”
–Horn Book
"[A] lushly imagined picture book . . . An expansive portrait of bodily autonomy and movement."
–Publishers Weekly
Inside the book
behind the scenes
