Review by Ian Keogh

One night a fish boy emerges from the sea and makes his way into Barnacle Bay, where the next day he turns up to the local school wearing a hoodie. It’s Sashimi, and when he says he’s avoiding pirates no-one takes him seriously. They think he’s strange, mind, what with his constantly being wet and talking to the school goldfish.

Dan Santat’s approach is to have everything seem new and exciting to Sashami from the gum under the school bus seat to the lure of the fire alarm. Even Joey, the kid everyone picked on before, finds Sashimi strange, but the weirdness is infectious and when Sashimi stands up to the school bullies a friendship is sealed. We also learn that there’s a mythical beast of Barnacle Bay and Sashimi isn’t the only one searching for him.

Barnacle Bay and its legend are a twisting of the Loch Ness Monster myth, well exploited by featuring an annual contest to locate the beast. It’s all good natured fun as Sashimi explores a new world, with the bullying levels set low enough for an all-ages designation and the eccentricity extending well beyond Sashimi himself. Santat adopts a simple cartoon style effectively transmitting the emotions and jokes to a young audience, and it’s no surprise to see a cover endorsement from Dog Man creator Dav Pilkey, who works in a wilder version of a similar cartoon style.

Young readers ought to sympathise with Sashimi, and appreciate the neat way his problems are drawn together, if not entirely resolved. A second Sashimi book follows later in 2026, so look out for The Field Trip of Doom.