This book was interesting to read. I learned a lot about the other animals that live in the deep sea of the ocean. I love how the Blobfish was on every page of the book trying his best to make the book about him. When he finally had a page in the book, he was known as the ugliest animal. I felt for the poor Blobfish. Poor thing was waiting the whole time for his name and he got disappointed. He was crying in the book and the rest of the sea animals made him feel better by writing the last page of the book that encouraged him. This book is perfect to teach kids about underwater sea animals and they will not get bored because of the unique Blobfish in the story. ( )

picture book PLUS information about real deep sea animals ( )

Although this book is shelved in fiction at my library, its a great ocean animals, non-fiction included book to read for younger school age and pre-k kids. The first half mainly discusses those creatures at the deepest levels of the ocean along with Blobfish running commentary. Then second half gives personality to the different creatures and the camaraderie they have as being deep ocean dwellers. Great for school age program. ( )

A cartoon-like blobfish continually intervenes in this ostensibly non-fiction picture-book account of the creatures of the deep sea, expressing a desire for more attention to himself and his kind. As the main narrative profiles creatures from the viperfish to the blenny fish, the blobfish adds his own commentary. When the narrator finally does get to blobfish, mentioning that they have been voted the world's ugliest creatures, our aquatic interventionist is terribly hurt, and must be comforted by his fellow deep-sea creatures.

I wasn't sure what to expect, going into The Blobfish Book, but I ended up finding it rather unsatisfactory, both as an informational book, and as a humorous tale. I expect that the dual narrative structure and meta-fictional self-awareness of the blobfish are meant to create a sense of whimsy and fun, but I can't say I was particularly amused. Humor is, of course, highly individual, so there's nothing to say that others won't find this humorous. That said, I also felt that, despite the informational back-matter, there wasn't enough substance here to really make Olien's book a success, as a work on non-fiction. I wanted more about some of these creatures, and while I suppose the author is to be credited for creating that desire to learn more, I just wasn't that impressed with what information was made available. If the blobfish is an endangered species, perhaps a fictional tale focusing on that would have been more to the point? Or, perhaps a more in-depth non-fiction examination of all the species mentioned would have been more satisfactory. As it is, I felt that this title really didn't work as either fiction or non-fiction. ( )