Caldecott Medal Contender : The Only Fish in the Sea

by Sam Juliano

The last time we heard from Sadie, that intrepid negotiator of an alligator, elephant, plane and train, she was busy writing a letter after she had finally met up with her Great Aunt Josephine, the most eccentric of animal lovers in the delightfully raucous Special Delivery.  The very first glimpse of her in the sophomore adventure The Only Fish in the Sea reveals her back in the saddle, as she is wearing her signature helmet, goggles and red scarf as she repairs her bicycle, following a frontispiece page featuring a huffing African-American boy.   Enter, stage left the bicycle-riding Sherman, arrives to inform this Nancy Drew of outdoor escapades that an incorrigible child named “Little Amy Scott” committed an act of familial treachery, by spurning a gift in front of a mortified birthday gathering.  As visualized by master scratchpad illustrator Matthew Cordell, the scene of familial rejection may recall a c omparable one in the “It’s A Good Life” episode of The Twilight Zone when a terrified family recoils after an eight year old boy sternly warns relatives in a living room that he will send anyone into the cornfield who doesn’t like what he is doing.  With mother, hand over her mouth, the father exhibiting a “deer in the headlights” look and the rest clearly chagrined this is a gathering of unhappy campers, though Little Amy is calling the shots in this household.  The artistic decision by the author of the Caldecott Medal winning A Sick Day for Amos Magee, Phillip C. Stead and Cordell to enlarge the drama played out in Amy’s home via a thought bubble is inspired as it gives readers quite a bit more of nuance than the singular proclamation Goldfish Are Boring!

The pictorial prologue continues with Sherman lamenting “And how she walked all the way out of town, past the empty school bus, and down to the dock where Jacob Finney’s been asleep for as long as I can remember?” as readers see a second thought bubble of Amy at the end of a dock after passing a snoozing dock sentry to deposit the plastic bag, containing the unwanted goldfish and some water into the sea Ker-Plumk, witnessed by a few birds.  Overcome by the sadness of the goldfish’s certain fate, Sherman envisions the floating bag ebbing away until the rambunctious title page intrudes and officially launches another marriage of mayhem between Stead and Cordell, one as deliriously infectious as the past Szieska and Smith forays.  The unruly albeit lovable band of monkeys are back, and their role in The Only Fish in the Sea is more all-encompassing.  On the title page their purpose is ceremonial, as they usher in this waggish tale with brass-toned joviality, banana peel calling cards strewn about.  Cordell’s pen and ink watercolors are the perfect fit  for the antics of these unabashed non-conformists and self anointed foils to logic.  One monkey’s attempt to hold up a pole anchoring the title banner loses control, and the fall, in some measure recalling the swivel chair mishap in the Caldecott Medal winning Officer Buckle and Gloria sends some musical instruments tumbling.  The book’s thought bubble baton is then handed over to Sadie, who describes the situation as “terrible” to the inquiring Sherman, as she heads off with her tool box.  She elaborates on the quandary they face by first assessing the needle-in-a-haystack nature of this near-impossible task, standing with Sherman in front of Cordell’s splendid depiction of oceanic endlessness.  Even if their efforts are rewarded with success against all odds, there are many dangers to face.

Among Cordell’s aquatic arsenal of sea predators are sharks, whales, eels and barracudas, whose population in deep waters should be alone enough to doom any notion of a successful endeavor.  The thought bubble as etched by the illustrator paints quite the perilous journey, one surely the chartered domain of Jason and his crew of Argonauts.  While Sadie is pondering their near-impossible mission, the incorrigible monkeys are holding up the rear, carrying the toolbox, a sack of bananas, and taking photos of themselves.  The anarchic band of easily side-tracked incompetents have been nonetheless assigned the responsibility of securing the materials needed for the boat trip and they visit a scope and optical and sundries store paying for telescopes and maps with their own signature currency – bananas.  In a humorous reference to Special Delivery one even acquires a can of beans.  One monkey is clicking a photo of the other, who in turn is examining the photographer with a telescope.  Perhaps even funnier is the capture of Sadie looking out into the watery expanse with a telescope while telling her friend:  The important thing, Sherman, is that Ellsworth stays hopeful and brave, knowing that we’re on our way.  Sharp eyed-readers with a comparative slant will note the background row of trees, engineered in the inimitable Cordell style so fabulously in his venerated Wolf in the Snow.  

As they plot their course on the beach in a double page spread highlighting monkey madness and Sherman, cluelessly asking the planned trip’s female captain who Ellsworth is, Sadie takes charge, penciling in destination circles and calmly telling her charge that “Every fish deserves a proper name.”  Readers will have loads of fun with the money behavior, none fo which of course is constructively aiding the plans.  The overlapping beach blanket maps are particularly irresistible, as are some fo the expressions of these discombobulated simians.  In response to Sadie’s declaration “Now we’ll need to borrow a boat…” the monkey brigade  are as animated as anyone considering a new car purchase.  They are as doltish as their literary equivalent in Chris Van Allsburg’s The Wreck of the Zephyr are mysterious.  They required material salso include “a net, and two long fishing poles..,”  “twenty-one pink balloons,” “a bucket of paint” and appropriate headwear in case of weather – good or bad.”  The monkeys at the bait and tackle holding their banana payment in unison is a hoot as is the balloon selling clown now holding a bunch of bananas.  Amy is seen rejecting a clown’s attempt to amuse her with a dog balloon.  Sherman greets her, while the ever-resourceful Sadie takes stock of the acquisitions.  A monkey carries a bucket of paint, while overhead the blackbird seen here and there helps with the brush.  The monkeys secure some “slicker” caps from a vendor while the dynamic dup take refuge under an umbrella in a pictorial interpretation of what might happen.  Coredell’s brings the terrific canvas home with light blue sketch lines, some ending with an arrow as the drops strike the objects, including one monkey with his mouth wide open.

The boat, showcasing a pink-ballooned banner “Welcome Home Ellsworth” heads out to sea as one late coming monkey oars his way on an umbrella to reach the boat propped up by a whale.   “In the meantime, we’ll have tea.  Patience, Sherman, is the most important part of fishing.”  The boat is propped up by a whale as Sadie and Sherman take a break.  The blackbird “kaws” and some of the monkeys -the ones that don’t have oars hijacked by sharks and eels are overcome by a frenzy.  A wave has elevated Ellsworth above the water just as a giant squid attempts to encircle the boat.  Ellsworth is rescued, Sadie rebuffs Sherman for asking if they will now eat the goldfish for dinner and the crew anchors to exit the boat, passing the still comatose Mr. Finney walking toward the dock head.

They resolve to put Ellsworth “somewhere with a view of the entire neighborhood” and Cordell responds with a grand and detailed, double page canvas of the town, where an active library, the previously seen ‘Bait and Tackle”, and the vigilant blackbird now hovering overhead in full wing spread.  The stone enclosed fountain at the center is the ideal spot.  With a simple Sploosh! Ellsworth’s new residence is forged.  The monkeys push a cart carrying a barrel labeled “Food for Fishes” as Sadie offers up the maiden feed.  The monkeys and the woman running the map store answer the call of “And when he is lonely we will keep him company.”  My favorite spread of all includes all the previously seen residents of the town – the shop owners, Amy Scott’s family, the monkeys and birds in a scene as ebullient as the finale of Robert McCloskey’s Lentil.  Even Ellsworth leaps to signify a special kinship with George Baily.  At the finale, Amy’s disingenuous action leaves her in well-earned seclusion.

Ace illustrator Matthew Cordell

Cordell’s Wolf in the Snow, released in the first month of 2017 has remarkably stayed in the top rank of books seriously discussed for Caldecott recognition.  Some are calling it the picture book of the year.  But, much like film director Victor Fleming, who in 1939 found himself competing against himself for his direction of The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, Cordell has two top-rank picture books in the running.  Wolf is his solo effort, and Fish of course is his collaboration with Stead.  Both books boast resplendent dust cover jackets, though of opposite tone, and both exhibit inside covers that rate with the finest of the year in that department.  Fish extends the humor in some postcard captures of the book’s players, human and animal, and is adorned with the various items Sadie needed to map her her plans- a compass, slide ruler, pencils and rulers.  The Only Fish in the Sea is an often uproarious picture book jewel.  Like its illustrator’s earlier, spectacularly-regarded book about friendship and a snowstorm this follow-up to Special Delivery is destined to entertain children well into the future.  It begs major scutiny from the committee.

Celebrated author Phillip C. Stead

 

Note:  This is the nineteenth entry in the 2017 Caldecott Medal Contender series.  The annual venture does not purport to predict what the committee will choose, rather it attempts to gauge what the writer feels should be in the running.  In most instances the books that are featured in the series have been touted as contenders in various online round-ups, but for the ones that are not, the inclusions are a humble plea to the committee for consideration.  It is anticipated the series will include in the neighborhood of around 30 titles; the order which they are being presented in is arbitrary, as every book in this series is a contender.  Some of my top favorites of the lot will be done near the end.  The awards will be announced in mid-February, hence the reviews will continue until around the end of January or through the first week of February.

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