Blobfish Throws a Party

by Miranda Paul, Margret Caton (Illustrator)

Overview

Introducing Blobfish Throws a Party, a wild and hilarious story from award-winning author Miranda Paul!

Blobfish lives at the bottom of the ocean with no lights, no friends, and no delicious treats. The only two ways he can think to change this would be to 1) throw a party, or 2) save the world in true hero style. He decides to do the first one. However, when he announces, "Deep sea party! Bring a treat to share!", the mermaids hear "Cheap, free party! Sling on a sheet to wear!", and the shorebirds hear "Cheep-peep party! Sing a tweet with flair!", and so on. Soon the whole world is partying in strange ways based on what they think they heard, and Blobfish is still sad and alone at the bottom of the sea. Will Blobfish ever get his lights, friends, and delicious treats?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499804225
Publisher:	little bee books
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Miranda Paul, award-winning children's author of Water Is Water (a School Library Journal Best Book of 2015) and Trainbots (Summer 2016), has worked as a freelance writer, teacher, volunteer zookeeper, and more. She began writing in elementary school, thanks to her wonderful teachers. She also enjoys science, trivia, and board games. Most of Miranda's heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things-including her own kids who invent all kinds of gadgets with their super-handy dad. When she's not traveling, you can find Miranda chugging around in Green Bay, Wisconsin, or online at mirandapaul.com.

Maggie Caton used to live in a big house in a small town. Now she lives in a tiny apartment in a big city! Maggie is a Pratt Institute alumna and resides in Brooklyn, New York, where she does all her illustrating and exploring. Visit Maggie at mcaton.com.

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2017
In this fairly bonkers picture book, a lonely pink blobfish’s verbal invitation to an underwater bash (“Deep-sea party! Bring a treat to share!”) gets mangled as it spreads. “But the mermaids heard... ‘Cheap, free party! Sling on a sheet to wear!’ ” writes Paul (10 Little Ninjas). “And the shorebirds heard... ‘Cheep-peep party! Sing and tweet with flair!’ ” Soon, sheep are dressing up for tea parties, farmers are making a musical ruckus, and children are flinging their underwear skyward. Debut illustrator Caton captures the chaos in energetic cartoon illustrations whose vivid hues are just right for the story’s anything-can-happen atmosphere. Just when it seems like peak ridiculousness has been reached, aliens show up, ready to steal the world’s candy, only to be thwarted by all that airborne underwear. Cue an epic celebration with Blobfish at the center. Not every misheard line makes total sense (“And the farmers heard... ‘Keep up the party! Ring a beat to blare!’ ”), but “making sense” isn’t exactly this book’s modus operandi. Most readers will be too caught up in the silliness to care. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—Lonely Blobfish is tired of no lights, no friends, and no treats down at the bottom of the ocean where he lives. He can think of only two ways to change that: throw a party or save the world like a hero. Choosing to throw a party, Blobfish calls out, "Deep-sea party! Bring a treat to share!" Though his request is simple, it becomes jumbled immediately. The mermaids hear something different, as do the shorebirds, and so on. Eventually everyone is partying when aliens attempt to steal Earth treats. Luckily, the strange party styles of the earthlings cause the aliens to abort their mission, and when everyone wants to know who to thank, the party announcement is traced back to Blobfish. In the end, he accomplishes his mission and becomes a hero all at the same time. In Caton's picture book illustration debut, she offers whimsical and colorful artwork that plays up the humor of Paul's perfectly plotted story. VERDICT The text begs to be read aloud, and the humor is aimed squarely at the preschool audience, making this a great pick for storytime. Highly recommended for school and public library picture book collections.—Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH

School Library Journal

2017-02-14
Pity poor Blobfish, a bottom-dweller who goes without light, friends, and, forsooth, delicious treats. Time for a "DEEP-SEA PARTY!"Blobfish is aptly named: he's got a beezer like a potato, a red-lipsticked frown, a sickly pink pallor. Blobfish has the blues. But our protagonist has pluck. He shouts out that he's throwing a "DEEP-SEA PARTY! BRING A TREAT TO SHARE!" The sound waves make it to the mermaids, who hear "Cheap, free party! Sling on a sheet to wear." Yes, it's a game of Telephone, and this telephone is broken. The dancers hear: "Be really arty! Swing your feet in the air!" The kids outside hear: "Be a smarty! Fling your UNDERWEAR!" Yeah, well, OK—underwear—but that underwear just happens to foil the attack by candy-seeking extraterrestrials in a flying saucer. Then everyone retraces the Telephone call until they find Blobfish, still down in the friendless, treatless dark…but nevermore. Caton keeps the spirited artwork in concatenation with the crazy pleasure of Paul's chain of transformations. The participants are an entirely natural mix of black, brown, white, boy, girl, and lots of animals of indeterminate gender and ethnicity but great variety. The whole package feels nicely wrapped, the wrapping doesn't try to get fancy, and the package isn't too big or small. Pleasingly proportional. Nicely crafted comedy—and the Blobfish gets his wish. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews