Fishy Tales by Vicki Riske

What is Fishy Tales about?

“Fishy Tales” is based on a puppet show I wrote six years ago for Day of Puppetry. This annual celebration is hosted by the Phoenix Guild of Puppetry, the Great Arizona Puppet Theater, and Puppet Pie. It is a wonderful day full of puppet activities, from professional puppet shows to make-and-take puppets, puppet parades, and a puppet show performed by the children in attendance. All these activities provide an opportunity for children to show their puppetry skills for friends and family.

I wrote “Fishy Tales”, the puppet show, as a way to involve as many children as possible in a production. Children ages three to twelve created fish, octopuses, and trash puppets. Using a blue bedsheet, we created an ocean. A narrator read the story, and the children performed with their handmade puppets. The show was a success, and I have used it at other events as well.

Working with children on this puppet show inspired me to write and illustrate “Fishy Tales” the book. Children have told me that the story is important to them. They are concerned about the future of the oceans. They want to be involved in solutions for saving our planet from climate change.

“Fishy Tales” (the picture book) is about a colorful school of fish, who love to swim and play in the ocean. While playing their favorite game, Marco Polo, the fish hear cries for help. The concerned fish are off on an adventure to save an Octopus and their ocean from a large trash island. The fish need to find a solution, which is people. They need the help of people and their boats, to bring the trash to land and recycle it. That’s pretty much the whole story.

My process is basically to write the story, and then start illustrating. During that process, I am always looking for validation that the story is worthy of my audience. I am lucky to have many nieces, nephews, and friends with kids, that I can send out drafts and ask, “Well, what do you think of this?” I generally receive honest responses because kids don’t worry about pleasing me, they’re really frank about the whole thing [their opinions about Vicki’s book]. My books are always vetted by kids, and that’s a huge part of my process. I learn a lot about what kids do and don’t like.

For example, originally the names for the fish were: red fish, blue fish, etc. Their names were their colors. When a four-year-old heard the story, his father told me, “Well, Jayden wants to know the names of the fish.” I said, “Red Fish, Blue Fish.”. The father replied, “Well, I tried to tell him that, but he said, ‘NO. What are their names?’” So, using that feedback, I added names to the fish. I even named the green fish Jade after Jayden, which made him very happy that he had contributed to my story. I take feedback from my audience very seriously.

Have kids reached out to you after they read your books, specifically kids that you didn’t know before?

Yes, they have. It’s really sweet when kids tell you they like your book and it’s even sweeter when it is a kid that doesn’t know you. When they appreciate your work and give you that feedback, it makes you think: “Writing books is really worth my time.” It doesn’t get better than that.

What part of the process did you find the most enjoyable with this book?

Feedback from children, donating books to libraries and translating “Fishy Tales” into Spanish.

I feel a strong connection to libraries. We didn’t have many books in our house growing up, so I went to the library often to check out books. I always appreciated the library.

I donated copies of all my books to a library in Minnesota. The librarian mentioned that her favorite book of mine was “Grandma Bibi”. “Grandma Bibi” is a story I wrote about my mom who had suffered from Alzheimer’s and how over time, she couldn’t remember who we were. During one visit, I could see in her eyes that I wasn’t Vicki anymore; I was her Aunt Lucy. This interaction with my mom was unexpected and unsettling. I wanted to write a book about my experience, and use it to help kids understand when their grandparents forget who they are.

When I showed the librarian a draft of “Fishy Tales”, she said: “Oh my goodness! There aren’t many books that have written about this issue (the environment) in such a simple way.” She told me that this will eventually go viral – that was the way she put it.

For me, this was an unexpected reaction. That’s the most exciting part is when you receive a surprising reaction to your book. When you find someone that appreciates what you have done, it motivates me to do more.

Additionally, “Fishy Tales” has been translated into Spanish! The Spanish title is “Los pececitos aventureros”, it is in the process of being printed. I met my translator, Sonia Elizabeth Urrutia de Soto, at a publishing company, where we both worked. We both moved on but continued our friendship. Now, every time I write a book, I make sure to send a copy for her opinion. When I sent her “Fishy Tales”, she loved the book. I asked if she could translate the book into Spanish; she agreed. I’m hoping that the Spanish version will be helpful to reach more children in Arizona due to the number of Spanish speakers here. I’m thrilled to have my book translated into other languages making it more accessible for everyone.

I also make and sell puppets of the characters in my books! You can buy these puppets on my website (along with my books) and even download coloring pages of all the characters and even the highly demanded boats from “Fishy Tales” for free!