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F ³: One Fish, Many Fish, Black Fish, Red Fish

 






I did not know about Swimmy until my daughter came home from preschool and told me his story. I don’t know why I didn’t know. The book Swimmy, by Leo Leonni, was published during my childhood so it may very well have been in libraries in my community. Somehow I missed it. 

Maybe the picture on the cover didn’t catch my eye.


Cover of Swimmy by Leo Leonni, Random House Children’s Books

 
That tiny little black fish - - that’s Swimmy. Possibly not leading man material. You won’t find his face plastered on lunchboxes. No Happy Meals, no Disney movie.

Still, the illustrations won the Caldecott Honor Award.  A good thing that the committee didn’t judge the book by its cover. 

For many years the most important thing about this book is that it marked the first time my child recounted a story book to me from memory. It had made enough of an impression on her that she brought it home, in her mind, to share with her mom. Her retelling was so convincing that I was motivated to read the book. 

I can’t remember if we checked it out of the library or if I bought it (money was scarce in those days) but I do know that once I became a full time preschool teacher I always kept a copy in my classroom library. 

Basically it was one sentence, spoken with the wonder (and developing grammar) of a young child that captured my imagination. I want you to go and read this book or follow along with a read aloud version so I don’t want to give anything away. Her words:

 “…and Swimmy be’d the eye!”


Image from Swimmy by Leo Leonni, Random House Children’s Books


You can learn more about the book on Wikipedia . There’s an article on Leo Leonni as well. Leonni came to children’s books as an artist. His images are deeply important to his work.

Today’s post is not a sweet reminiscence of a mother-child moment. 

It is not an homage to picture books.

I have been thinking of this story more and more throughout the week. There is a reason I can’t get it out of my head.

Today’s post is about current events. 

Let me know what you think. 












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  1. Julia A. McCreadyJanuary 30, 2026 at 5:08 AM

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