Jane Godwin (text) and Terry Denton (illustrator), Can You Teach a Fish to Climb a Tree?, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, November 2023, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760508661
This is a book that practically begs to be read out loud to a classroom of 3 to 6 year olds, or on a couch with a young reader, and it invites enthusiastic response and engagement with the questions it asks.
Jane Godwin asks the readers a series of questions that use absurdity to get them to think about how we judge our worth and abilities. Can you teach a fish to climb a tree? I think we all know that the answer is No!… although I would love to see a discussion of what it would involve to make that happen, and that could be an interesting classroom conversation about different abilities and aids. The real nuance of the question, though, is that focusing on a fish’s ability to climb trees misses that the fish is an excellent swimmer.
Terry Denton’s quirky illustrations lean into reading the text with a sense of humour, and I particularly love the page that asks No? Then what’s wrong with them all? as a collection of animals regard the reader with bewildered expressions.
Jane Godwin’s clear, concise text and Terry Denton’s charming illustrations ask young readers to explore the question of what measures we use when deciding if someone or something is any ‘good’. It feels like a clever move to use examples of animals’ abilities leading into examples that involve humans, giving young readers a clear direction before asking them to consider how the same questions apply to the slightly more complex subject of people’s abilities, and then extending that to asking the reader to consider how those questions apply to them.
Rather than focusing on the idea that there are things that some of us just can’t do, the emphasis placed firmly on looking for not only the things that the reader is good at and the wonderful things they can do, but also what they enjoy, and the book ends with the question “What do YOU like to do?”
Can You Teach a Fish to Climb a Tree? would be a fantastic, light-hearted introduction to the idea that each of us have talents and strengths, and that we should look for those strengths in ourselves and others rather than writing anyone off for what they’re not good at. It doesn’t hurt that it’s beautifully constructed to encourage young readers in their critical thinking, and well worthy of its place on the CBCA Early Childhood award shortlist.
Reviewed by Emily Clarke
