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○ Fish is fish by Leo Lionni ( 1970)
1) At the edge of the woods there was a pone, and there a minnow and a tadpole swam among the weeds.
2) They were inseparable friends.
3) One morning the tadpole discovered that during the night he had grown two little legs.
4) “”Look he said triumphantly.
5) “Look, I am a frog!”
6) “ Nonsense,” said the minnow.
7) “ How could you be a frog if only last night you were a little fish, just like me!”
8) They argued and argued until finally the tadpole said,“ Frogs are frofs and fish is fish and that's that!”
9) In the weeks that followed, the tadpole grew tiny front legs and his tail got smaller and smaller.
10) And then one fine day, a real frog now, he climbed out of the water and onto the grassy bank.
11) The minnow too had grown and had become a full-fledged fish.
12) He often wondered where his four-footed friend had gone.
13) But days and weeks went by and the frog did not return.
14) Then one day, with a happy splash that shook the weeds, the frog jumped into the pond.
15) “ Where have you been?” asked the fish excitedly.
16) “I have been about the world - hopping here ad there.” and the frog, “and I have seen extraordinary things.”
17) “Like what?” asked the fish.
18) “Birds,” said the frog mysteriously. “Birds!”
19) And he told the fish about the birds, who had wings, and two legs, and many, many colors.
20) As the frog talked, his friend saw the birds fly through his mind like large feathered fish.
21) “What else?” asked the fish impatiently.
22) “Cow,” said the frog.
23) “Cows!” They have legs, horns, eat grass, and carry pink bags of milk.”
24) “And people!” said the frog.
25) “ Men, women, children!”
26) And he talked and talked until it was dark in the pond.
27) But the picture in the fish's mind was full of lights and colors and marvelous things and he couldn't sleep.
28) Ah, if he could only jump about like his friend and see that was wonderful world.
29) And so the days went by.
30) The frog had gone and the fish just lay there dreaming about birds in flight, grazing cows, and those strange animals, all dressed up, that his friend called people.
31) One day he finally decided that come what may, he too must see them.
32) And so with a mighty whack of the tail he jumped clear out of the water onto the bank.
33) He landed in the dry, warm grass and there he lay gasping for air, unable to breathe or to move.
34) “Help,” he groaned feebly.
35) Luckily the frog, who had been hunting butterflies nearby, saw him and with all his strength pushed him back into the pond.
36) Still stunned, the fish floated about for an instant.
37) Then he breathed deeply, letting the clean cool water run through his gills.
38) Now he felt weightless again and with an ever-so-slight motion of the taikl he could move to and fro, up and down, as before.
39) The sun rays reached down within the weeds and gently shifted patches of luminous color.
40) This world was surely the most beautiful of all worlds.
41) He smiled at his friend the frog, who sat watching him from a lily leaf.
42) “You were right,” he said. “Fish is fish.”
● Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
4.08 · Rating details · 2,859 ratings · 252 reviews
Two best friends, a minnow and a tadpole, are practically inseparable until the tadpole grows legs and decides to explore the world beyond the pond. When the tadpole, now a frog, returns to tell his friend of the extraordinary things he’s seen, the minnow, now a fish, tries to follow in his footsteps, but quickly finds that land is not what he expected. Friendship truly saves the day in this imaginative tale of a fish out of water.
● BIOGRAPHY OF LEO LIONNI
Leo Lionni was born in Holland in 1910. His one uncle was an architect who allowed Lionni to play with his drafting supplies. His other two uncles were collectors of modern art which Lionni was surrounded with most of his childhood. While Lionni was in school, Amsterdam had a progressive education system. “There was great emphasis on nature, art and crafts,” recalls Lionni. As a little boy, he would go into the museums in Amsterdam and that's how he taught himself how to draw.
Lionni moved with his family to Philadelphia when he was 14 but only a year later they moved to Genoa, Italy. He met Nora Maffi at the age of 16 who later became his wife. Having settled in Milan soon after his marriage in 1931, he started off by writing about European architecture for a local magazine. It was there that he met the contacts who were to give him a start as a professional graphic designer. Lionni moved back to Philadelphia with his wife and two sons and became the art director of a company called N.W. Ayer. He hired and worked with artists such as Saul Steinberg and Andy Warhol. He left N.W. Ayer and became the art director of Fortune magazine for fourteen years.
To entertain his grandchildren on a train ride, Lionni tore out bits of paper from a magazine and used them as characters and made up a story. This story became what we now know as the children's book titled Little Blue and Little Yellow. He became the first children's author/illustrator to use collage as the main medium for his illustrations. Lionni wrote and illustrated more than 40 children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Winner for Inch by Inch, Frederick, Swimmy, and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse.
Leo Lionni died in 1999 at the age of 89. His incredible accomplishments are known and admired all over the art world and his children's books are a favorite of children and adults alike.
● Leo Lionni Biography
Leo Lionni – American author and illustrator, 1910-1999
Leo Lionni
In Leo Lionni’s Frederick (1967), a shy, poetic field mouse refuses to help harvest food for the approaching winter because he is busily gathering the warmth of the sun, the colors of the summer, and words to describe the seasons. Late in the winter, when it is dark and the mice are cold and hungry, Frederick’s words spark the imagination of his fellow mice so that they can see colors and feel the sun’s warmth. In Frederick, as in his other picture books, Lionni uses evocative words and expressive art to kindle the imagination so that the reader, too, can dream.
Although he has written more than thirty books for young children, Lionni did not start writing until he was a grandfather. The inspiration for his first book came during a train ride, when he was trying to entertain his grandchildren by telling them a story with pieces of paper that he had torn from a magazine. From this experience came Little Blue and Little Yellow (1959), the story of two small circles of color who are best friends and one day hug each other until they turn green. The strong design and marvelous color in Lionni’s work reflect his lifelong career as an artist and graphic designer.
Born in Amsterdam, Leo Lionni spent his childhood living and traveling throughout Europe. Although he earned a Ph.D. in economics, he pursued a career in graphic arts instead and worked as a freelance designer before corning to the United States in 1939. In the States he worked for several corporations as an art director and was also the head of the Graphics Design Department of the Parsons School of Design.
Swimmy - Leo Lionni 1963
Swimmy, Leo Lionni. First edition, 1963.
His contributions to the field of graphic design resulted in his receiving an American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal in 1984. Given such a distinguished career, Leo Lionni’s contribution to the world in his books for children is even more remarkable. Filled with small animal characters, these picture books unapologetically champion individuality and quietly celebrate the beauty of the natural world. Quite simple, the storylines assume the form of fables, and they almost always have more than one level of meaning.
Most often he uses collage—although he sometimes relies on other media—to create a rich, lively, and textured art. These bold colors and designs make his books particularly suitable for reading aloud to a group. Leo Lionni is one of the few artists to have four books designated as Caldecott Honor Books—Frederick, Inch by Inch (1960), Swimmy (1963), and Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse (1969). His stories often treat serious subjects—war, friendship, and honesty—although generally the tone is playful.
In Swimmy, a tiny fish encourages the other small fish to form collectively a giant fish so the larger fish won’t eat them. The tale works as a simple story, although most adults see an underlying message in this book as well as in his others. Probably the only criticism of his work comes from those who find his messages and morals a bit too pointed. But what emerges most clearly is his consistent invitation for the reader to imagine, to experiment, and most of all to feel good about being an individual.