WHAT FISH ARE SAYING

Listen to an underwater cacophony.

With this playful account of the sounds revealed by recent hydrophone research, the author of When a Tree Falls (2025) leaves the forest to visit the ocean, inviting younger audiences to eavesdrop on fish. Pendreigh’s rhyming couplets never falter; from time to time, she repeats the refrain “It’s NOISY down below.” Starting with whale and dolphin sounds, she quickly dives into less familiar territory, describing the noises made by a remarkable variety of marine life, including shellfish. She speculates on what they might be saying (“MY LUNCH!” “SHARK?”) and explains that underwater, “sound travels faster, and farther…, / quicker than smell and deeper than light.” She reveals how these creatures create sound and uses frequent onomatopoeia (“Pearlfish THRUM. / Angelfish CHIRP”). Melrose’s digital illustrations include recognizable depictions of the fish, from clownfish to herring, as well as their sounds, lettered neatly nearby. Careful observers will notice a snapping shrimp crackling and popping on nearly every spread. This creature provides the climax; its astonishingly loud sound is accompanied by “blast balls that STUN / ZAP-FLASH-BUBBLES. Hot as the SUN!” The repetition of sound words makes this a pleasure to use with fledgling readers. The spreads will show well to a small group, and the backmatter adds useful information on hydrophone research, how fish hear, and snapping shrimp and the other animals mentioned.

A sound examination of a surprisingly loud undersea world.