Meet the author

Deborah Diesen.

Writer · United States

Deborah Diesen: American author of the Pout-Pout Fish picture-book series (with Dan Hanna on art) — rhyming, gently therapeutic books about big feelings for ages 2–6, a US preschool staple.

Deborah Diesen is an American author, best known to early-childhood readers as the writer of the Pout-Pout Fish picture-book series, illustrated throughout by Dan Hanna. The series, beginning with The Pout-Pout Fish (2008) and running to multiple sequels, board books and chapter-book spin-offs, is built on a deceptively simple rhyming refrain ("I'm a pout-pout fish, with a pout-pout face…") and gentle messages about big feelings, kindness, and bouncing back. The books are read-aloud staples of US preschools and a fixture of the early-childhood emotional-literacy shelf. Diesen also writes a range of other picture books.