Rainbow Fish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rainbow Fish is a children's book written by Mark Pfister and translated into English by J. Alison James. The book is best known for its moral about the value of sharing and the distinctive shiny foil scales of the Rainbow Fish. It was also adapted as an animated show, airing on the channel HBO Family in the U.S.
[edit] Plot
The story revolves around the Rainbow Fish, who, because he is covered in beautiful shiny scales, feels that he is better than all the other fish and therefore will not play with them. When one small fish asks the Rainbow Fish for one of his scales, he refuses. The other fish refuse to talk to him after this and so, desperate, the Rainbow Fish visits the wise octopus, who advises him to give away his scales to the other fish.
When he once again encounters the small fish, the Rainbow Fish gives him one of his precious scales and is soon surrounded by other fish requesting scales. Eventually, the Rainbow Fish has only one shiny scale left, but he is no longer vain. He spends his days playing happily with the other fish.
[edit] The Moral
This book can be interpreted in several ways. One interpretation is that sharing is good, as it makes the recipients and the sharer feel better, and that being vain--as opposed to treating others with respect--is bad [1].
Others see the book as promoting the idea that giving away all--or, in this case, almost all--of one's worldly possessions is best, or that one must give up one's unique identity in order to be accepted by society. [2]
