Gene Leun Yang may be the new Ambassador for Young People’s Literature but the 2016 Ambassador to Young People’s Science and Nature books is unquestionably the blobfish. No child looking at a blobfish can fail to assume that he has feelings, and that those feelings have been hurt. Whether headlining Jess Keating’s excellent new “pink is for everyone” themed Pink is For Blobfish (Knopf, February), or helping narrate Jessica Olien’s delightful The Blobfish Book (Harper, May) the blobfish clearly is the perfect ambassador to engage both children’s empathy and their interest in science.
When we got ready to shelve Pink is For Blobfish on Tuesday an idea for a contest combining a great non-fiction story hour with a fun Valentine’s Day themed writing project occurred to me. I’m thinking it could be big fun at Elementary school story time. Here it is.
Five of our local schools are working on Blobfish valentines and I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the opportunity of sending him a valentine yourself in the comments below!
My dearest Blobby,
Floating along by the deep sea floor
With no care to spare for those up on shore
You’re pink and gelatinous, on crustaceans you dine
Wish you lived on the land so that you could be mine!
Love, Sarah.
Dear Sarah,
How I wish those undersea cares I could lose
For if I squelched up on shore it is you I would choose