Steve, Terror of the Seas

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The almost true story of Steve, the very scary fish.Steve is not very big. His teeth aren't very sharp. And though he's no angelfish, there are far scarier creatures in the sea. So why is everyone so frightened of Steve? With a brilliant new voice and distinctive art style, Megan Brewis is definitely "one to watch".

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Brewis (Henry and Boo) pairs the frightening and the less-so to comedic effect in this story about a tiny oceanic terror. Friendly Steve isn't a particularly big fish ("about 12 inches") and his teeth aren't all that sharp, but he claims that "everyone under the sea is afraid" of him. Over several spreads, readers see small fish, big fish, "fish who are not fish," even humans escape the water when Steve is nearby ("get out of the water!" shouts a panicked swimmer in a red swim cap). Steve is sure there are scarier fish in the sea: the "poisonous pufferfish," for example, and the viperfish, with its frightening fangs. But one aquatic animal isn't scared of Steve: his best friend George, a large shark. They're such good friends, it is revealed, they "go EVERYWHERE together." Brewis ends the humorous tale with facts about pilot fish like Steve and the mutual relationship they develop with sharks ("Sharks even allow pilot fish to clean their teeth!"). Young readers will enjoy eyeing the colorful array of fleeing ocean creatures, and repeat readers will relish finding George lurking somewhere on almost every page. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Steve tells us his fellow sea creatures are afraid of him, though he's a small, inoffensive-looking fish. Eventually, he introduces his best friend, George--a shark. Back matter explains that Steve is a pilot fish who keeps sharks free of parasites in exchange for protection, a mutualistic relationship. An engaging direct-address text, humorous speech-bubble asides, and cartoony double-page-spread illustrations add up to success. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

When Steve the fish swims up, all the other denizens of the sea dart off at top speed. How come?"Finding love has been a challenge," Steve admits, but otherwise he doesn't mind that smaller fish, bigger fish, even jellyfish and octopusesnot to mention human swimmersretreat in terror at the sight of him. Depicted as a relatively diminutive blue-and-white-striped fish with mild-mannered pop-eyes, Steve is (or at least pretends to be) mildly puzzled, as compared to pufferfish, viperfish, and other toothier, spikier, or rather ugly denizens of the deep ("let's not forget the BLOBFISH"), he's not really very scary looking. For readers who aren't all that up on marine biology Brewis inserts big fins or elongated stretches of gray along the edges of her cartoon illustrationsculminating at last in Steve's introduction of his best friend, George, a humongous, spread-filling, blue and gray shark who disingenuously chortles, "Hey, Steve, don't scare the fishies!" A brief "True Part" follows, revealing that Steve is a pilot fish, expanding on the "mutualistic relationship" between pilot fish and sharks and explaining, probably gratuitously, that "pilot fish are not really scary at all." The illustrations are unsurprisingly dominated by washes of blue, translucent layers of darker blue, yellow, green, and the occasional red delineating other ocean animals.The joke's delivery is a touch labored, but who would argue that there are benefits to having large, toothy friends on tap? (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.