In Anemone Is Not the Enemy, Anna McGregor (Colouroos) skillfully aligns a scientific principle with the value of friendship.
Everyone is afraid of Anemone: " 'Oh no, it's Anemone!' 'Whatever you do, don't get too close,' " a group of striped fish say as high tide pushes them into the tidal pool. The water around them slowly disappears until the fish are near Anemone--and "Sting!" Bubblegum-pink Anemone feels bad--"Sorry! I can't help it!"--but the fish are not forgiving. Then, a clownfish appears as the king tide comes in, bringing with it an octopus. Clownie swims right into Anemone's tentacles to avoid the octopus, which, like the other fish, gets a "Sting!" A humorously dark ending has Anemone asking Clownie if it is going to leave the rockpool. The orange and white fish replies: "Nah, we've got a good thing going here..." and on the next page, continues with "...believe me!" The page turn depicts a double-page view that includes "The Ocean," where readers will spy many predators surrounding the striped fish introduced earlier in the book.
McGregor takes a natural occurrence, symbiosis, and turns it into an entertaining and accessible story about making friends and working together. A "Did You Know?" page at the end of the book describes this relationship, explaining that clownfish are not affected by an anemone's poisons and that they also clean the sea anemone's tentacles. McGregor's digital illustrations use a natural, seaside palette, allowing Clownie's orange and Anemone's pink to be the brightest objects on the page. Her seemingly simple illustrations show clear emotion on the sea creatures' faces and also include a secondary story about a hermit crab. This offering from an Australian author/artist is short and sweet, perfect for an individual reader or a bedtime story. --Melinda Greenblatt, freelance book reviewer