You write one sentence to sum up the story. You start with a story idea (the balloon fresh out of the bag). Then you tied the end so the air couldn’t leak out. Finally, it was as big as it could be without popping. You even braced a little, in case it did. Each time you breathed more into it, the tension increased. The more you breathed into it, the more you stretched it. You began imagining all that you could do with it.

Then you could really start to see what it was going to be like when you were done. With the image of a balloon in mind, you filled your cheeks with air and blew into it. And you’d seen a balloon before, so you knew what it should look like. Fresh out of the bag, it didn’t even look a lot like a balloon, but you could see how it could be, with a little work. Remember the first time you blew up a balloon? Someone pulled a balloon out of a bag and handed it to you. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Lisa Fipps. TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity.

Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for Starfish.

Read along with an audiobook performance of Starfish.

Listen to Lisa Fipps talk about her name.You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language. Listen to Lisa Fipps talking with TeachingBooks about creating Starfish. Read a longer excerpt from Starfish, by Lisa Fipps. This poignant debut novel-in-verse follows Ellie as she tries to finally cast aside the Fat Girl Rules and be her own fabulous self.įor just a while.

Fortunately, Ellie has allies in her dad, her therapist, and her new neighbor, Catalina, who loves Ellie for who she is. It’s also where she can get away from her pushy mom, who thinks criticizing Ellie will motivate her to diet. To cope, she tries to live by the Fat Girl Rules-like “no making waves,” “avoid eating in public,” and “don’t move so fast that your body jiggles.” And she’s found her safe space-her swimming pool-where she feels weightless in a fat-obsessed world. Published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers GroupĮver since Ellie wore a whale swimsuit and made a big splash at her fifth birthday party, she’s been bullied about her weight.

Starfish lisa fipps book review