PIC FIC: Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming, illustrations by Boris Kulikov

March: Young Reader Pick

Papa’s Mechanical Fish is the story of an inventor and his supportive family. This book makes a great read aloud, with detailed schematic drawings of his invention process, which are fun to look at up close. – Robin

Clink! Clankety-bang! Thump-whirr! That’s the sound of Papa at work. Although he is an inventor, he has never made anything that works perfectly, and that’s because he hasn’t yet found a truly fantastic idea. But when he takes his family fishing on Lake Michigan, his daughter Virena asks, “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a fish?”—and Papa is off to his workshop. With a lot of persistence and a little bit of help, Papa—who is based on the real-life inventor Lodner Phillips—creates a submarine that can take his family for a trip to the bottom of Lake Michigan.

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