Barnacle Is Bored

K-Gr 2—This playful book addresses the universal problem of feeling bored while everyone else appears to be having a great time. Barnacle is attached to the bottom of a dock. Life is an endless, repetitive cycle of tides, waves, sun, and darkness. Barnacle envies the exciting life of a passing fish. "Look at this guy. The little polka-dotted show-off. I bet his days are so FUN." Barnacle alliteratively imagines the fish diving with dolphins, soaring with sailfish, and flipping with flounder. But Barnacle isn't the only one eyeing the little fish. As he cavorts, a smirking eel creeps further into view before swallowing the fish whole. Barnacle comically cringes and then grins at readers and announces, "I am not bored." The final page reveals a cutaway into the eel's stomach, where the yellow fish declares, "I am BORED." Barnacle's round eyes and expressive eyebrows create endearing and silly expressions. High-contrast speech bubbles contain one sentence per page.