Arlene Sardine

Arlene Sardine is the story about how a sardine goes from living in the in the water to being put in a can and ready for sale. While I was reading this I was thinking why would anyone want to write about the life cycle of a sardine. However, I found it very interesting while I was reading it. There were a lot of vocabulary words I didn't know before I read it. Also, when I really thought about it I didn't have any clue how a sardine went from swimming in the water to being canned. I feel this book is labeled as controversial because to children it may seem cruel that we take the fish out of the water and kill them, but the book makes the fish dying seem like it is ok. The language in the book is somewhat poetic, which I think is very interesting since it is about the life cycle of sardines. I think this is what really makes the book so optimistic. The illustrations in the story were like watercolor paintings and I really liked them, especially the pages where there are tons of fish!