Food Chain

This picture book treats the concept of environmental competition with a strong dose of humour. The illustrations are excellent, with rich colour and line reminiscent of the work of Chris Riddell but the storyline does not stand up quite as well. Naughty Boy flushes a little fish down the loo and we follow the fish’s journey along pipes into the sea where it is eaten by a bigger fish which is in turn eaten by an even bigger fish. Naughty Boy gets his comeuppance when he gets eaten by a whale (although he is safely squirted out of the whale’s blowhole). Few picture books deal with predation, with the notable exception of Gary Larson’s There’s a Hair in My Dirt: A Worm’s Story. Despite the witty illustrations and jokey story line, Food Chain actually conveys information about the food chain.