The Journey of the Noble Gnarble by Daniel Errico

A tiny, small-finned, floppy-tailed gnarble dreams the impossible dream of leaving his home on the ocean floor to see the sun and the sky above the sea.  He embarks on a perilous and fool-hardy journey, where nay-sayers like the blyfish try to discourage him, and predators like the subbalubble would like to make an easy meal of him.  But the noble gnarble is undaunted, and perseveres until his dream of  flipping above the waves becomes a reality.

I found this story at this website by accident while I was looking for good keywords to use as tags for this blog, and I’m so glad I did!  Everyone loves a story about a spunky underdog achieving his dreams against all odds.  This story has a whiff of Dr. Seuss with its silly fish names like subbalubble and warckle and its clever rhymes, but it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to actually be Dr. Seuss, which I really appreciate.  

The illustrations are very nice, too, which I wasn’t necessarily expecting from a free online book.  The pictures have a very enchanting underwater feel to them.  I haven’t had a chance to read this one to my kids yet, but I know they will love it, and it will be fun to get the giggles talking about loggers, gungaloos, and plinks.

Note: When I originally reviewed this story, it was only available on the odd 90s era website noted above but it has now been printed and re-illustrated by Tiffany Turrill. The new illustrations are wonderfully charming and very different from the original water colors. I can't decide which I like more!

Find a long list of more books by Daniel Errico on goodreads.

Visit the illustrator Tiffany Turrill's website here. A warning though, some of her amazing art is not child friendly.

Note: Originally Posted to my first blog, Children's Books On A Dime, on October 29, 2013.