Finding Dory

Suzanne Francis's Finding Dory tells the story of the film for 5 year olds, about a forgetful little fish who suddenly remembers she has a family.

What happens

Dory is a blue tang with short-term memory loss (she'll tell you so herself, again and again). When she was tiny, her mum and dad helped her practise saying it. Then one day she was swimming all on her own, and she couldn't remember how she got there.

Years later she's living on the reef beside Marlin and his son Nemo. On a school trip with Nemo's class, the word "undertow" sparks something. Suddenly Dory remembers her parents, and a place called the Jewel of Morro Bay, California.

So off they go across the ocean, riding on the back of Crush the surfing turtle. There's a giant squid, a sunken ship full of shushing hermit crabs, and an aquarium where Dory meets Hank. He's a grumpy octopus with only seven arms (a "septopus", as Dory kindly points out) who would much rather live alone in a glass box in Cleveland.

If your reader has seen the film, they'll hear the voices straight away. The jokes are all here. Dory proudly repeating every word the teacher says. Two lazy sea lions who won't let poor Gerald onto their rock. Hank hiding by turning himself into a poster of a kitten.

It helps to know Finding Nemo, but it isn't essential. The book tells you how Dory and Marlin met and why they're such good friends.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The opening shows little Dory lost and alone, calling for her parents and crying herself to sleep. Later Marlin loses his temper and tells her to go and forget ("it's what you do best"), and she swims off hurt. A sensitive child might want a cuddle through those bits (they all happen early on, so this isn't a spoiler).

For most little ones it'll be the funny friends and the chase that they remember. Dory never gives up, even when she can't remember what she was looking for!

What to read next

If a film they love on the page is the appeal, Planes Junior Novel is another one to try. It's about a little crop-dusting plane who dreams of racing round the world, even though he's scared of heights.