Reviews: (by author)

Wlodarski, Loran. If a Dolphin Were a Fish. Illus. Laurie Klein. Mt. Pleasant, SC: Sylvan Dell, 2006. ISBN 0-9768823-2-9. $15.95.

This imaginative collaboration of text and art is a treasure. The young dolphin Delfina imagines what it would be like to be other creatures: fish, turtles, manatees, birds, etc. For each flight of fancy, Wlodarski relates the traits of the other animal, then on the next page tells why the dolphin is different. The prose is very good indeed.

But even more: in the illustrations, Wlodarski, in making comparisons between the animals' characteristics, morphs Delfina into a combination of dolphin-turtle, dolphin-octopus, dolphin bird-wonderful conjurings of imaginary creatures that are very satisfying to see.

A thought-provoking, informative, and unusual book, If a Dolphin Were a Fish is outstanding for family reading.

A. Allison

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