The Biggest Fish: 01/23/25

The Biggest Fish in the Sea by Dahlov Ipcar (1972) is about a boy wanting to prove his skills as a fisher by catching the largest fish. It's illustrated with bold colors and geometric shapes to make a memorable reading experience.

Normally with a picture book I would comment on the basic plot, the characters and a moral if there is one. Not all picture books have one and they certainly don't require one. Then I would talk about the art, how it was made, and maybe something about who made the illustrations if it's someone other than the artist.

This book, though, is different. The author, who recently died at the age of 99, and long career as an artist, illustrator and writer. She illustrated books for authors such as Margaret Wise Brown, but also wrote and illustrated thirty of her own. The Biggest Fish is one of those thirty.

For the most part her children's books are relatively easy to come by. Some art still in print and the others are available in abundance on eBay and similar sites. I figured this book would be a simple search and purchase after seeing an old slide of my husband (toddler aged) reading it in bed in the late 1970s.

No. The Biggest Fish is apparently a rare and sought after book. If a copy becomes available it sells for between $150 and $350. I set out on a quest to find an affordable copy and waited for nearly two years before one began available — a weeded copy from a public library. It came in time to give to my husband for Christmas.

Do I like the book? Yes. Do I love it — probably not. I appreciate the art for it's bold use of shape and color. I like near mutual destruction of the fish and the town (the fish eats the boy's town). I like the compromise the boy and fish reach (don't fish for something you don't need to eat). And I appreciate the strange journey it took to find a copy.

Four stars

Comments (0)