A Visit from Manta Claus? The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

A GIFT SHOULD HAVE MEANING,

PLUS A BIT OF BLING-ZING,

SO I'LL SHOP TILL I DROP

FOR EACH JUST-RIGHT THING!

Pout-Pout Fish has a problem. He is a perfectionist, and his search for the perfect big and bright gift for each of his pescatory friends fails, he lapses into a pout.

The stores are filled with fancy things, but none of them seem fitting for Miss Shimmer and his other special friends. His favorite aquatic shoppe, Ahab's, has a myriad of merchandise, and the banners proclaim everything from...

PEG LEGS TO SCALE POLISH!

But the bling has lost its zing. Mr. Fish's eyes are dazzled, but his mood grows frazzled. He proceeds with his shopping, until it grows dark and the last shop is in sight. But what he sees is a sign that gives him the gloomy glums.

WE'RE CLOSED!

He's got nothing! Will he have to skip the Christmas shindig altogether? Mr. Fish sinks into a first-class sulk.

Then he has a thought.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO START

FOR THE BEST GIFTS COME FROM THE HEART.

In her latest Pout-Pout Adventure our favorite down-in-the-mouth fish rises to the occasion with his own fin-made creations after all, in Deborah Diesen's The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish (A Pout-Pout Fish Adventure) (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015). With versatile verses and a Christmas message that even the Grinch couldn't find fault with, Pout-Pout comes through with the perfect present for everyone after all. Diesen's talented collaborator, artist Dan Hanna provide the very merry eye-candy illustrations that add much to the final festive outcome, and the Christmas party is a deep-water delight after all.