101 Facts About Tropical Fish

by Sarah Williams

This fact book felt familiar to me, the way it was laid out. It's in a kid's non-fiction series, and I feel pretty sure that I read a book laid out like this before, but perhaps didn't blog about it. This is not a trivia book about fish as might first appear, instead it's your regular instruction book with basic information about the history of keeping fish, their biology and needs, how to set up a tank, choose healthy pets etc. But all laid out in brief numbered paragraphs, thus the 101. Odd, but maybe easier for kids to read?

I learned from this book that fish scales don't actually have any color. The pigment comes from the skin underneath. Some fish have no skin pigment and are transparent! And that the shape of a fish's mouth can tell you what kind of food it eats. There is some misinformation here, though. It says that algae is a kind of fungus (not!) and that once a year you should take your entire fish tank apart and scrub everything with soap (NO! this will kill the fish) Mention of rainbowfish, tinfoil barbs, rasboras, glass catfish and mudskippers led me to look them up online. The last one- mudskipper- I have heard of before but didn't know they could be kept in an aquarium.

Rating: 2/5   32 pages, 1976