One Big Trick! POOR Little Guy by Elanna Allen

Life is fraught when you're a little Caspar Milquetoast of a fish--bright yellow, spherical, with big glasses, rotund and definitely not built for speed.

He's surrounded briney deep predators who figure he's an easy mark.

An Octopus eyeballs him and decides he's the perfect bully-bait.

"HEL-LO, LITTLE GUY. LET'S PLAY... CATCH OF THE DAY!

FISHKET BALL!"

Octopus tosses Little Guy back and forth.  He chases him through the maze. He plays with the little fish like a cat with a mouse. He tells Little Guy that he's so little and adorable that he must even taste cute.

And finally Octopus is ready for the ultimate taste test. He opens his mouth and chunks Little Guy in.

AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

Little Guy doesn't have natural camouflage. He doesn't have speed. He doesn't have a mouthful of sharp teeth. He doesn't have any of nature's usual attributes to protect against predators.

But he does have ONE BIG TRICK that trumps the rest.

He's a pufferfish. He can blow himself up, which activates hundred of spiny spikes!

It's Big Guys, BEWARE in Elanna Allen's clever tale of a little pufferfish who is the little one who gets away to live to swim another day, in Poor Little Guy (Dial Books, 2016).  Youngsters will chuckle as the little guy bests the bully just by being himself. Author Clark sets this one up with wry wit as the big predators of the deep learn that size isn't everything and her sly, unstated humor also comes forth in her simple but telling illustrations that practically tell the tale on their own. Publishers Weekly likens this one to Jon Klaasen's award-winning This Is Not My Hat (see my review here) and quips that Allen's tale "proves that revenge is a dish best served wet."