Whoop, Goes the Pufferfish – Life in a tidal pool

A baby pufferfish gets caught in a tidal pool, his friends help him see there isn’t any reason to panic because the tide will come in again.

Another great creative commons story from Pratham’s Storyweaver platform.

See more books from Pratham in our Pratham-Storyweaver category.

See more stories about animals and marine life in our Animals category

Text From Whoop, Goes the Pufferfish

It’s a beautiful and sunny morning at a rocky shore in Mumbai. At low tide, all seems peaceful at a tide pool.
A pink Porcelain Crab is looking for food.
An orange Starfish is moving s-l-o-w-l-y with its tube feet.
But wait.
Is it really peaceful?
Oh no! A baby Pufferfish is stuck in the tide pool.
The Pufferfish swims to the left and bumps into a rock.
It swims to the right and bumps into a rock.
It swims here and there and everywhere, but there seems no way out.
“HELP! I am stuck!” cries the Pufferfish.
WHOOP! It puffs up to protect itself from danger.It swims around in circles.
“Don’t panic, little fish,” says the Porcelain Crab.
“The tide will come back in,” says the Starfish.
But the Pufferfish is too frightened to listen. Round and round it goes.
“WHO IS MAKING ALL THIS NOISE?”
A majestic Octopus swims into the pool from under a rock. The Pufferfish stares in awe.
“You feel trapped because the tide is low,” says the Octopus. “When the tide is high, the water will cover all these rocks. And you will be able to swim back home to the sea.”
The Pufferfish is relieved. It waits.
In time, water flows under the Porcelain Crab’s rock. It flows over the Starfish. It flows into the tidepools.
The water rises. The Pufferfish rises with it.
Finally, the baby Pufferfish can swim over the rocks. It is overjoyed.
“Thank you, everyone!” it calls out and swims away into the sea.
“Goodbye, little one. Swim safe.”

What is a tide pool?
Tide pools are shallow pools of seawater on rocky shores.
You find these at low tide when the rest of the water has flowed back into the sea. Tidepools are in the intertidal zone, the part of the beach only seen at low tide.

Low Tide, High Tide
Low tide is when the water flows back far into the sea.

High tide is when the water covers most of the shore.

Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon on the Earth.

<End of Text from Whoop, Goes the Pufferfish>

Follow and read along from the video below

About Pratham, Read India

Pratham Books was set up in 2004, as part of the Read India movement, a nation-wide campaign to promote reading among children. Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes quality books for children in multiple Indian languages.
Pratham’s mission is to see “a book in every child’s hand” and democratize the joy of reading.

Pratham’s books are available now in digital form on the Storyweaver platform.

More books by Pratham’s Storyweaver

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The Cat’s House - Are our Cat's our pets or are we theirs? An age old question for cat owners. This cat thinks she knows the answer. A decodable reader for ages 7+ / Grade 3.

What’s Happened to Our Water - The animals find their water is becoming dirty and smelly and the fish are dying. What will they do? A cute beautifully illustrated story for young children with lots of fun sound effects. 

A Conversation Among Cats - Ever wonder what cats really get up to? Wouldn’t it be great to overhear their conversations This delightful picture book lets you in on their secrets!

Easy Funny Animals Colouring Book – 50 simple and fun animal colouring pages - This amazing coloring book offers a variety of lovely animal drawings that are simple for kids to color. It was carefully created with simplicity in mind. This book has a variety of beautiful animals that will capture their hearts, from soft kittens to playful puppies, from elegant lions to gorgeous dolphins. Young artists can enjoy hassle-free coloring simply because of the bold, easy-to-follow lines that are used to outline each illustration. The Simple, Fun, and Easy 50 Animal Illustrations Kids coloring books develop critical skills while also bringing joy and enjoyment. Coloring encourages self-expression and inventiveness while developing hand-eye coordination, focus, and fine motor abilities. It's a great method to effortlessly blend study and enjoyment.

A Cat, a Mouse, a Lizard, and an Owl – Tales from the Sanskrit - Continuing on the Tales from the Sanskrit, this is a lovely story about nature and nurture. The story explores how, when the cat is trapped in a snare and asks for help, the mouse helps her, the owl waits to catch the mouse, and the cat kills the lizard, ultimately demonstrating how self-interest and opportunism can determine the fate of others, and that nature is hard to overcome.

How Turtle Cracked His Shell - A short fable about how Turtle's shell came to look like it is cracked for kindergarten and early grades including activity pages.

Who Threw the Shoe? - Crocodile is hit on the head by a shoe while dozing. He goes on a quest to find the owner of the shoe, but will people be honest with him, and will he be honest with others? A great springboard to discuss topics about facing your fears and speaking up to those you perceive a ...

Animals Eating – Early Reader - In this Mustard Seed book, one learns two new nouns with a similar verb phrase, perfect for early readers, and also lots of fun for toddlers learning about different animals.

Lady Needed Space - When Lady is brought home from the animal shelter, she feels overwhelmed by the busy world around her, full of unfamiliar dogs, people, sounds, and smells. She doesn’t know what to do with her big feelings! But with love and patience from her human, April, Lady learns tricks to help her feel safe, and even makes ...

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