April 1, 2025

 

Isn’t it time we took a whole new look at fishes? They are the least understood and most exploited group of vertebrates on Earth. Yet, the past 20 years have seen a revolution in our understanding of these animals. 

 

WEIRD, WILD, & WONDERFUL FISHES OF THE SEA (10k words) by Jonathan Balcombe, PhD, biologist and author of the New York Times bestselling What a Fish Knows (translated into 17 foreign languages) presents the latest scientific revelations about a diverse collection of over 33,000 thinking, feeling, socially sophisticated species.

 

Delivered in a light-hearted voice sprinkled with humor, and brought to life by the vivid illustrations of Tom LaBaff, Weird, Wild, & Wonderful Fishes of the Sea delivers a phantasmagoria of fantastic fish phenomena, including: tool use, planning, artistry, virtue, culture, deception, collaboration, apprenticeship, mental mapping, ballistics, bird-catching, spa-treatments, mucus-nipping, flatulent communication, outwitting chimpanzees, and much more.

 

Aimed at young readers, and peppered with sections on how to draw fish, this book will nevertheless appeal to all age groups. Parents looking for educational yet entertaining reads, teachers seeking engaging STEAM content, and young activists passionate about marine life will all be hooked.

 

And it has a deeper, more serious mission. Worldwide, our aquatic cousins are in trouble. We haul up at least several hundred billion of them from their homes every year, and scientists estimate that we’ve lost half of all marine life since 1970. 

 

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful Fishes of the Sea does more than inform young readers—it encourages a sense of connection to them.

 

See flipbook below.

 

Bios:

​

Jonathan holds three biology degrees, including a PhD in animal behavior. He has published over 60 journal articles and book chapters on topics ranging from the implications of animal pleasure, self-recognition in giant manta rays, and the ethics of animal research. His latest book for grown-ups, Super Fly, won the 2021 National Outdoor Book Award for natural history literature. A children’s story book, Jake and Ava: A Boy and a Fish, was published November 2021 by The Gryphon Press. 

 

 

Tom LaBaff - After graduating from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, he spent the first decade of his illustration career making animated films for Walt Disney Studios. He has illustrated numerous books for publishers such as The Town of Zack for Worthwhile, and Aly Cat Takes on First Grade for Scholastic, and a 6 book how-to-draw series for Enslow Publishers. Tom has 2 new picture books coming out this year. Most days you can find him walking the early morning sands of Vero Beach.
 

​