  | Fish like me Author: Sumner, Jamie | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
Underwater, everything looks different--and everybody 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.
| Illustrator: | Holzwarth, Devon |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (03/01/26)
School Library Journal (03/20/26)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/04/26)
The Hornbook (00/05/26)
Full Text Reviews:
Publishers Weekly - 02/02/2026 An unnamed protagonist who uses a wheelchair on land rolls "under the deep blue water" of a swimming pool "like I roll under the deep blue sky with grace at a pace set by me" in this lushly imagined picture book. Through comparisons to various sea creatures, the child narrates their experience as "a starfish cartwheeling across a universe, my burble of bubbles the only sound when I breathe out" and "a catfish with legs that swish like fins." Describing their mobility aid as "my other starfish limb and just as much a part of me as my toes" and the swim therapy coach who helps them move through the water, the voice explores different kinds of movement on land and in water, noting that in both places, "I can be silly and free." Making her picture book debut, Sumner employs direct adjectives ("fearless and brave except when I’m not") to demonstrate the narrator’s perspective, while gouache, colored pencil, and collage illustrations from Holzwarth (A Flicker of Hope) render the fluid underwater motions of the brown-skinned child alongside undulating flora and fauna. The result is an expansive portrait of bodily autonomy and movement. Secondary characters are portrayed with various body types and skin tones. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly used with permission.
School Library Journal - 03/20/2026 PreS-Gr 3ā€”In an exuberant celebration of physicality a young child with light brown skin envisions his swim therapy pool as a seascape, with no restrictive top or bottom, left or right. There, surrounded by colorful marine flora and fauna, he can move freely, imagining himself to be a cartwheeling starfish, a proud seahorseā€”or a snail "rolling under the deep blue water," just as on land he rolls in his wheelchair under the deep blue sky "with grace/ at a pace set by me." "Up above, I am a rock-star roller," he proclaims; in the water, a fish "with a body that wriggles in a different way," gently guided by an attentive swim therapy coach or joining other children paddling and playing in Holzwarth's swirling, bubbly, blue and green poolscapes. Parents or caregivers with "rock-star rollers" of their own will have to look elsewhere for swim therapy information or resources, but the bright art and the narrative's joyful swing will make a big splash with readers. Moreover, the lad's positive approach to his experience will leave them agreeing that "that there is something magical/ about a fish like me." VERDICT A buoyant encounter with a child who uses a wheelchair and celebrates his abilities on a land and in the water.ā€”John Peters - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
