Not Fishy Enough: A Ridiculous Parable About Finding Worth Through Self-Acceptance

"Holy freakin' snail shells! What is this book?" asked Edwin.

This is a combination of a slightly short novel for kids over 8 and a self-help guide for the people who care about them.

This story is about Edwin. He is an odd-looking fish. At least that's what everybody tells him. Well, they tell him he's a fish, anyway. Not much of a tail for a fish. The scales are wrong, too. The fins are a bit, well, grabby. More on that later. 

"Wait what? Tell me now," demanded Edwin.

Sorry, Edwin, you'll spoil the adventure.

"Fine. I'm out of here."

Now that he's out of earshot, I can tell you that it's about a crab adopted by fish growing up in an isolated tidepool with no other crabs. So, he grows up thinking he is merely an incompetent fish.

There is a section in the back of the book with discussion questions for many of the themes in this book. The questions are designed for classrooms, for family therapists, and for caregivers in general. In these pages is an adventure of aquatic proportions. It's about finding out who you are and figuring out what to do about that.

This highly unusual, but hopefully not too unusual book is by Briton Kolber, a licensed therapist who specializes in helping geeks accept and find the best in themselves. In a world that may remind you of Finding Nemo, it explores themes found in The Ugly Duckling, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Brene Brown's The Gifts of Imperfection. If you are a fan of the pragmatic wisdom of Brene Brown or in the humor of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, or Christopher Healy (The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom) you will have a good time here. Illustrations by Nicoleta Dabijya add wonder and whimsy.