Teamwork Works!

We don't need to charge the barricades in our lives all by ourselves.

One of Leo Lionni's simple yet appealing collage-illustrated children's books tell the story of a little minnow-sized fish named Swimmy.

Swimmy is just like all the other fish swimming in the large minnow school, except that while they are all reddish-gold, he is pure black. The school of little fish swims along peacefully until any larger predator fish comes along. Then--whoosh--all the little fish, including Swimmy, scatter.

Swimmy begins to observe his watery neighbors and in each case, it seems that the big intimidate, bully and consume the small. What could one tiny little misfit fish do about that? Suddenly Swimmy got a brilliant idea. It is a plan that both celebrates his own unique style--his solid black coloring--and depends on the cooperative teamwork of all his minnow schoolmates.

Swimmy organizes the school of all his little friends so that they are swimming in the shape of a large fish. Swimmy himself, his dark body flashing, creates the "eye" of this illusionary...