Let’s Pretend To Be Fish is a delightful picture book that invites readers to experience and enjoy the world with the boundless imagination of a child. The story follows a small whale who sneaks onto land to play but ends up lost and trapped in the grass. A little girl named Fifi and her dog Choby, both lovers of the sea, discover the trapped whale and embark on a mission to help it find its way home.

With the help of kites and some kind-hearted birds, they send a message for help to the mother whale in the sea. The mother whale receives the message and swims to land, guiding them back to the ocean: “We will leave when the wind comes” and “When the wind comes, the grassland turns into the sea.” When the wind blows, transforming the grassland into the sea, they can finally return home.

Grateful for the kind assistance, the little whale invites Fifi and Choby to enjoy a feast at his ocean home. But how can they enter the ocean? The mother whale reassures them that all they need to do is “pretend to be fish.” And so, Fifi becomes a “mermaid” and Choby becomes a “mer-dog,” swimming to the sea with their whale friend.

Let’s Pretend To Be Fish is a timeless and imaginative story by Bei-Lynn, a renowned Taiwanese picture book author celebrated for her childlike innocence and creative spirit. Her stories are simple, beautiful, and poetic, with naturally smooth, naive, and fresh illustrations. Not only is Bei-Lynn a talented writer and illustrator, but she also loves telling stories to children, blending her fantasies with real-life experiences to create picture books that captivate both adults and children.

Bei-Lynn believes that “ordinary things, like a flower blooming or a chick breaking out of an egg, are the true magical moments.” Let’s Pretend To Be Fish offers readers a pure, pleasant, and fresh reading experience, captivating both adults and children with its innocent and imaginative storytelling.

Pablo Picasso once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. In Let’s Pretend To Be Fish, she captures this childlike essence with remarkable skills.

The picture book Let’s Pretend To Be Fish was honoured as one of the “One Hundred Best Books from the World” at the 2023 Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.

Let’s Pretend To Be Fish

Original title: 假裝是魚

Written by Bei-Lynn

2022, Siloo

ISBN: 9786269534715

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

‘假裝是魚’. 博客來, https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010028859. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

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Meet Wen Wu: a versatile creator, advocate of children’s literature, connoisseur of picture book aesthetics, and fervent champion of literature. She appreciates the innocence and honesty of children, though occasionally she finds herself uneasy towards the bluntness of others. Her reverence for nature extends to all living beings, those seen and unseen. A life enriched by novels, poems, movies, paintings, stories, and writing fuels her passion. Amidst the complexities of adulthood, she strives to preserve the innocence and boundless imagination of childhood. You can find Wen on her Facebook page or via wenchunwu1227@gmail.com 

Curator & Translator 

Eleanor Duggan is a passionate children’s book reader, a storytelling enchantress, an aspiring globetrotter, a part-time book crafter, and an impassioned foodie who is a cooking disaster. She is more known as an international school teacher-librarian and the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) Regional Director for East Asia. She is a Taiwanese with a Belgian soul and is currently enjoying her life as a citizen of the world with her daughter and their 2 one-of-a kind cats. You may find her via The Third Culture Librarian 

GLLI Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in posts on this site are the individual author’s and are not indicative of the views of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative.