Arlene Sardine by Chris Raschka

Arlene Sardine is about a little fish who wants to be a sardine. It describes the fishes journey from birth to death then to the factory and her voyage through a factory into a can. I am having trouble finding the right words to day about this book. I can see why people have a problem with this book because it doesn't spare you any details about how a fish is caught and packed into a can but it doesn't do it in a graphic way. There is at least some level of sensativity used. I did like the pictures because they look like water colors. There is a lack of defined lines so I think that makes the pictures less graphic if you will. The pictures swirl with shades of orange, red, yellow and green.

If you look at the cover, you will see that it is a play on a sardine can. It says easy open and net wt. 12 oz. Then you open the book from the saide rather than the top or bottom just like you are pealing off the cover of a sardine can.

I think how animals become food is a hard topic to deal with. I personally don't remember how I learned about it but all children are going to learn about it someday. Children are smart and can't be protected forever. Now I am not saying this should be read to your 6 year old, but it might also be a tool to use to help children understand.

The other topic this book talks about is death. The beginning starts off with the author saying "I once knew a little fish once who wanted to be a sardine." The book talks about how the fish gently lays on a conver belt so there are images of death but in a sensitive way I think.

What the author does to make death and an animal as food is make it as part of the fish's desire. That is what it wants to be. Therefore when death is coming near, the fish is happy, not scared. All of her and her fishy friends are on the same path.

I know that I would not choose to share this book with my children but if they came across it on their own that would be a different story. I just am not a fan of the plot because it doens't interest me and is hard to think of a fish getting smoked in a factory. I think some people may see this as unsensitive but it is reality and it is a way for children to learn about death and death or an animal.