One Lonely Fish

In a large board book with graduated pages, Mansfield and Flintham take readers from one to 10 via an aquatic food chain. After introducing “one lonely fish” on the opening spread—a tiny yellow specimen blithely swimming along without a care in the world—page turns reveal slightly larger fish, their mouths agape as they prepare to eat the fish directly in front of them. Crisp illustrations and a creamy color palette create a playful, upbeat mood, despite all of the imminent doom, and readers will notice a crab keeping tabs on the goings-on as it moves along the seabed. The well-designed final scenes, in which an enormous red fish with an equally enormous mouth swallows the whole lot in one fell swoop, delivers big laughs while neatly (and quickly) bringing readers back to one. Ages 2–5. (Jan.)