The Rainbow Fish is a classic book by Marcus Pfister. It is the first book in its own series.
Plot[]
The story tells of a fish with shiny, multi-colored scales named Rainbow Fish. He has blue, green, and purple scales; and among them, he has shiny silver scales. He is always fond of them, until one day, a small fish asks him if he could have one. Rainbow Fish refuses in a very rude manner. The other fish are very upset about his behavior and don't want to play with him anymore.
Feeling upset, his only remaining friend, the starfish, tells him to go visit the mysterious octopus for advice. Rainbow Fish finds the octopus and asks what he should do. The octopus tells him that he must share the beauty of his scales with his friends. She tells him to share his scales with each of the other fish. And she continues to him that he may no longer be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, but he will discover how to be happy.
When he encounters the small fish a second time, the Rainbow Fish gives her one of his precious scales and, seeing the joy of this little fish, immediately feels much better. Very soon Rainbow Fish is surrounded by other fish requesting scales and he gives to each of them one of his shiny scales.
Finally, in the end, despite the fact he has one shiny scale left (as he gave them all away to the other fish), he becomes very happy.
The author about his book[]
"'Rainbow Fish' has no political message. The story shows us the joy of sharing. We all enjoy making presents for Christmas or birthdays and we are feeling good doing so. I want to show to our children the positive aspect of sharing: To share does not only mean to give away something (which is quite hard for a child) but above all to make someone else happy - and itself."
Original cover in German
Reviews[]
1.[]
If you read this very popular book just before bed, and the light is still on in the hallway, you can make the rainbow scales glitter on the page, and realize why the Rainbow Fish was so proud of his beautiful decoration. Sometimes, though, being too proud of outside beauty can blind a fish, or a child (or even, heaven forbid, a parent) to the beauty people hold inside. That's the lesson of this simple tale, imported from Switzerland. It's a useful one for future sneaker and designer clothing shoppers, for rainbow fish--and for quieter, plainer minnows, too.
2.[]
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