Katherine Arden is best known for her novels for adult and middle grade novels (fantasies of one sort or another). The Strangest Fish is her 2024 picture book. Illustrated by Zahra Marwan, this book is fairly simple and straightforward: Daisy wins an odd-looking fish at the fair. She takes it home, where it quickly (overnight!) outgrows its bowl, then the next bowl, then the bathtub. Out of options, Daisy takes her strange but beloved pet to the lake and sets him free.
Daisy misses him, and goes to check on him the next morning. When she does, she finds that not only is he okay, he has grown to a tremendous size. He’s not a fish, he’s a water dragon, and he happily gives Daisy a ride.
The illustrations are vivid splashes of color, and the general themes are good: love is good, accepting things /people for what they are is good, etc. But the story is too easy. There are no real obstacles here, except for a few snide comments about how odd the fish looks.
It’s okay, but only that.
