Module 1: The Rainbow Fish

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister; translated by J. Allison James

Summary:

The Rainbow Fish is about a fish who, unlike the other fish, had sparkling silver scales and this made him more beautiful than all the other fish.  He doesn’t play with the other fish; Rainbow Fish is proud and refuses to share his special scales with another fish.  Because of this, all the other fish begin to avoid him.  Seeking help, he speaks to a wise octopus who tells him that in order to become happy and to be liked among his peers, Rainbow Fish must give away his glittering, silver scales.  In the end Rainbow Fish gives away all but one scale; he is no longer the most beautiful fish, but he is liked by the other fish and finds happiness for himself.

My Impressions:

On the first read through, I liked that this book is about sharing, and viewing it from the eyes of a kindergarten student, I’m sure I would have liked the book.  Rainbow Fish refers to his silver scales as his “most prized possessions” and that he was happy after giving them away.  The moral of the story: people (and fish) like you if you are kind and share what you have with them.

After thinking about the story for a couple of days though, I don’t think I like the book as much.  I think it’s great to teach children to share and not be selfish, but I don’t think that teaching kids to give away what matters most to them should be encouraged.  Rainbow Fish goes from being unique (because of his scales) to being like all the other fish (because they now each have one of his special scales).  After thinking about it, it seems that the point of this story was to teach children that to be happy they have to fit in and be like each other.  I wish that instead of the octopus telling Rainbow Fish to give away his glittering scales that he had taught him how to not be snobbish without losing his uniqueness.

Review:

Booklist reviewed The Rainbow Fish when it was translated into English in 1993, and they seemed to like it for ages 4-7.  The comment was made that it was “gimmicky” to use the shiny, silver foil scales in the watercolor pictures, but that it worked to get the point across.  As Booklist only reviews books that it recommends, this book would be recommended.

Personally, I can see this book being used for young children, but I found a copy of The Rainbow Fish in a middle school library. While I understand that it is in this library because of the high number of ESOL students (who need beginning reading books to help build fluency and confidence with reading English), I would not keep it there simply because older children can read more into it then what the story’s original intent was.


Uses in the Library:
I can see using this with elementary children as a starting point to discuss how to treat others and the importance of sharing.  The librarian could use this not only to have students discuss how to treat others, but it could extend to how to share in the library, treat books with respect, etc.  I think something like this would go over well with students in/around kindergarten.

Pfister, M. (1992). The Rainbow Fish (J. James, Trans.).  New York: North-South 
     Books (original work published in 1985)

 [Review of the book The Rainbow Fish, by M. Psifter]. (1993). Booklist, 89 (9),   Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com