URSULA UPSIDE DOWN

Ursula is disconcerted to realize she’s living her life upside down—or is she?

Ursula, a sherbet-pink catfish, has a good life. “Weeds waved from above,” “Rays of sun shimmered from below,” and Ursula has “scrumptious buggy buffets” to feast upon. Some might wonder if there’s been a printing mistake: Other characters’ speech bubbles are upside down, and the sun peeks from the bottom of the page. But as readers orient (or disorient?) themselves, they won’t be able to help but share Ursula’s perspective, both artistically and emotionally. After Ursula encounters a fish who questions her unusual position, she’s plagued by existential angst, and the book reorients, with the sky at the top of the page and water at the bottom. Confused, Ursula flops onto a beach, which, as Tabor so drolly puts it, “Is no place for a catfish upside down or otherwise.” Thankfully, Vern the bat flaps over to rescue her. Ursula’s overjoyed to meet another creature who lives life unconventionally aligned. But are they the ones upside down? “Says who?” questions Vern. And, “just like that,” Ursula’s world—and the book—flips again. While her shift to appreciating life outside the norm feels abrupt, readers will be buoyed alongside Ursula. Created with loose, bubbly watercolors and digital collage in jaunty tones of aqua and teal, her watery world is inviting. An author’s note discusses the real-life upside-down catfish, found in the Congo River basin.

A welcome reminder to embrace your view of the world.