The Rainbow Fish is a beautiful short story about a fish learning how to share in order to really feel happy. Written by Marcus Pfister in 1992 originally in German since Pfister is Swiss, The Rainbow Fish was translated into English by J. Alison James.
The story is about the most beautiful fish in the sea, Rainbow Fish, who absolutely loves his shining scales. In fact, he loves them a little too much. One day a little blue fish swims up to him and asks if he could have one of the Rainbow Fish's shining scales. Rainbow Fish refuses quite rudely and then no one wants anything to do with him anymore.
Rainbow Fish is then upset because no one pays attention to his shining scales anymore. He seeks out the wisdom of the old octopus and she tells him that he should give away all his scales, that way he will learn how to be happy. Eventually, Rainbow Fish does as he was advised and finds happiness in giving to others.
Many teachers and librarians use this story in order to explain to children how to share, and how to not focus on appearance as much as the character of the person. You can read The Rainbow Fish for yourself here. The book was then turned into a series bringing about Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale and Rainbow Fish to the Rescue.
But it was also adapted into a television series in 2000, called Rainbow Fish: Tales from the Sea. Although, the television shows are only loosely based off of Pfister's book. They take the characters from the book and then put them into new adventure stories.
The moral of The Rainbow Fish has started to become a topic of debate amongst parents and teachers. Some people say that by Rainbow Fish giving away all of his scales, it diminishes the idea of individuality.
What do you think? Are people reading too closely into the text of a children's book, or does The Rainbow Fish not teach such a great lesson to kids on sharing?
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