Book Review: Pink is for Blobfish, by Jess Keating

Why I Picked It Up:

The cover.  Yep, judged this one by the cover and I am glad I did.  What a gem.  The pink catchy title is one thing, but the most hideous, gelatinous creature with grumpy-man face made me *literally* LOL.  After reading about the book, I knew it had to be mine.  Usually when I think about pink, I picture tutus, princesses, frilly dresses, etc.  This book’s intent is to have the reader rethink pink, by introducing poisonous animals, ugly animals, and other pink wildlife.

Why I Finished It:

It was hard not to.  I have actually and willingly reread this book a few times.  There are a few reasons why I loved this book.  First, the colors and layout of pictures.  Yes, there’s pink throughout, but it is nicely contrasted with black, green, and yellow.  Everything stands out.  Each page has a striking photograph of the animal, a comic-like illustration of the animal, and three types of text (an overview, fun fact, and encyclopedia-like information).  Admittedly, I didn’t read the encyclopedia information on the sides until the third read!  Secondly, I hadn’t heard of many of these creatures at all!  I mean seriously, have you heard of a Pink Fairy Armadillo?  Third, the information was captivating and quick, my favorite kind of informational book.  

Who I Would Give It To:

As much as I want it to be, it’s probably not the best read aloud.  Not that you couldn’t read it aloud, but it’s one of those books you want in the hands of the reader.  I can’t imagine a kid or adult not being fascinated with this book.  As of now, this is on my favorites for the year 2016!

Integration Ideas:

Social Studies, Science, Research, Inquiry

Any time we see great nonfiction texts for students we immediately go there … not that there’s anything wrong with that!  Learning about the animals definitely falls into the science category.  While you might not have Pink Fairy Armadillo in your standards, you could have students choose one of the animals and dig deeper using your standards.  For example: upper elementary students need to know about inherited traits and learned behavior, so students could take that animal and learn more based off of behaviors.  Trust me, the students will want to know more about these odd creatures!  Students could learn more about the habitats and environment where the creatures live tying this into social studies.  It also speaks about some of the animals being endangered.

One of my favorite features of nonfiction books, and something I look for immediately, is “the extras” in the back of the book.  That’s the teacher brain that won’t turn off.  What is the author giving me that will spark curiosity and wonder in my students?  This book has done a great job of this.  In the back there is a colorful map with a key to let you know where to locate these animals, a glossary of useful words, resources for students who want to know more, and ideas for future careers if you are interested in specific things (love)!  Use these resources in the back to see if the kids’ curiosity is piqued and this will help them begin their own unit of study.

Writing:

The format of this book lends itself to even the youngest student researching and writing.  Students can research their own strange animal, or a specific color animal, or even animals from a specific place, and then create a page for a class book.  Students can create their own template or you can create one for them.

This might be a great place to use something like VoiceThread, an excellent tool to promote digital discussion. Whether created digitally (with something like Canva) or physically on paper, each student’s page for the class book can be uploaded into the center of the screen as the centerpiece for the discussion. Depending your leaning goals, you could have students narrate their own page, or you could have other students, or even parents and community members, enter into the conversation and ask questions or leave comments on the other students’ pages.

Links:

Author’s Website – http://jesskeating.com/ … Rumor has it there is a continuation coming out next year!

There’s A Book For That – https://goo.gl/ER4xHz … has ideas for before reading, during, and after.

Mr. Schu Reads – http://goo.gl/7EPNIs … always has great ideas.

Video Trailer:

How have you used this book?