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Summary: A Child's intro to communism and anti-biblical teachings
Review: The story sounds simple enough. A fish with beautiful scales is asked by other fish if they could have but one of the Rainbow fish's scales. The Rainbow fish refuses to do so, and begins to alienate the fish around him. Dejected, the Rainbow fish gets advice to share the scales so he will become happy. After doing so, the Rainbow fish now has one scale, just like the rest of the fish around him, and the Rainbow fish is happy.
All this under the guise of a great book on sharing. It's an important Christian concept, isn't it?
The concepts are very clear: equal distribution of wealth, and a feeling of entitlement by the non-rainbow scaled fish. The Rainbow scales are not a necessity to any fish but the Rainbow fish. The other fish are disappointed with the stinginess of the Rainbow fish and refuse to associate with the Rainbow fish. The focus of the story is on the feelings of the wealthy fish, not on the greed or need of the other fish. The values that should be taught with respect to this story is not that sharing makes you happy, but rather greed (and gossip) makes you unhappy. One should be pleased and satisfied with one's own self. The coveting of the other fish is a *bad* thing, and should not be ignored.
Sharing is important. It does have a tendency to imply return of ownership of property, however. If that isn't the case, it's called "giving" or even "sacrifice". The Rainbow fish had no obligation, morally or ethically, to give the protection of life God gave it to others. God's view is a capitalistic view. It is important to use your God-given gifts to help others selflessly, but prudently.
Communism is all about equal distribution of wealth. Everyone is equal. Nobody above any others. It isn't fair that anyone is rich. Didn't Jesus tell a story about talents that were given disproportionately? Each of the talent recipients were given different amounts. That wasn't fair, was it? The Bible also says (roughly) that those who have shown responsibility in little, more will be given for responsibility. The wealthy fish was guilted into distributing its wealth, to fish that weren't in need. That isn't what the Bible says to do. (The rich man being told to give everything away wasn't told that to make friends.)
Even if one doesn't agree with me about the existence of God, or the precepts of the Bible, please take other comments here to heart. That the book is brightly colored and pretty does nothing for the content.
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Summary: teaches kids it's okay to be jealous!
Review: This book teaches the wrong message. It is NOT about sharing. This book is about blackmailing others to be your friend by giving them things they want. Instead of enjoying what one has this book teaches jealousy.
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Summary: Glittering Potential of Generously Sharing with Like-Minded!
Review: This book will soon become one of your child's favorites. No one is immune to the stunning beauty of the vivid watercolors that are highlighted with reflective, colored foil to make the Rainbow Fish shimmer across the page. The sheer gorgeousness of the image makes the moral of the story hit home like a smack into the middle of your forehead. All children have trouble learning to share, and this book makes an eloquent case for why that's in your child's best interest. It is easy to see why this book won the American Bookseller's 1995 Book of the Year Award!The Rainbow Fish was simply "the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean." He had scales that "were every shade of blue and green and purple, with sparkling silver scales among them." Not only was he the most beautiful, the "other fish were amazed at his beauty." When the other fish invited him, "Come play with us!", he would just glide by. But he did enjoy being admired. When one of the fish asked for a scale, the Rainbow Fish haughtily said, "Get away from me!" Pretty soon everyone avoided the Rainbow Fish, and he was lonely. The rest of the story describes how Rainbow Fish achieved happiness through sharing. In the process, he makes the whole ocean more beautiful and his own life a study in connectedness. Psychologists tell us that people have both a need to be distinctive and a need to be connected. Those desires can cause behavior that improves one satisfaction at the expense of the other. The Rainbow Fish effectively shows how the two dimensions can be combined through locating and sharing with others who have the same interests. This book will be improved by some discussions because a child may not have the experience to know how to extend the moral of this story into her or his own life. For example, your child doesn't need to permanently give away 90 percent of his or her toys in order to have any friends. However, your child should be prepared to share 100 percent of toys when friends or relatives visit. You can explain to your child how the same sharing will occur in reverse when visiting the other children. In that way, everyone has more and more fun. You can also use the story to help explain the joys of giving to those in need. For example, you could read this book before your child trick or treats for UNICEF (or helps raise money for some other charity) for the first time. Unfortunately, your child can mistakenly see this book as suggesting that it is a bad idea to stand out. That can be harmful in areas like academic achievement, where there is a lot of peer pressure not to excel in some schools. You want your child to understand that excellence is praiseworthy, but pridefulness and rudeness towards others are not. You can turn this around by encouraging your child to come up with games and activities that can be shared with others. When we share the richness of our minds, the lives of all are improved. The bounty we receive in return is boundless. I like books that raise fundamental questions about how to live an upright and emotionally rich life, and The Rainbow Fish will provide many wonderful opportunities for discussions of this sort. As a result, you will have more wonderful experiences with your child. That's a great benefit to get from sharing this book! After you have finished reading the book many times, ask your child how a person can obtain more happiness. You will be impressed with the good ideas you will hear, and you can enjoy the happiness of seeing the beauty of your child's character in the answers. Create beauty through giving!
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Summary: Rainbow Coalition
Review: This well-known book is a winner for the toddler set. The Rainbow Fish has brightly colored scales, and some of them shine like silver. In a design coup, the book shows the fish decorated with tiny metallic paper scales. The "oooooo" factor is high. Not only is the rainbow fish an attention getter, but author/illustrator Pfister's ocean backgrounds show an imaginative color range.
Fish's problem is whether beauty or friendship is more important. When the proud fish haughtily, angrily refuses a small blue fish's request for one of his scales, Rainbow gets a bad "rep," and the other fish ignore him. Rainbow Fish advances one level of maturity when he realizes the consequences:
"What good were the dazzling, shimmering scales with no one to admire them?" He reaches a somewhat more advanced level when a huge octopus, eyes gleaming in a purple-shadowed cave advises him to "'give a glittering scale to each of the other fish. You will no longer be the most beautiful fish in the sea, but you will discover how to be happy.'" And so it happened: "the more he gave away, the more delighted he became."
I agree that Rainbow Fish's motivation isn't very altruistic, and that he also could have pointed out the non-shimmery qualities of the other fish. But this is a book for small toddlers, not a platform for budding Rand followers. Slightly older kids could be led into a discussion of defending Fish's solution or proposing alternatives, and the visual highlights might inspire some painting or drawing. Pfister first published the award-winning book in Switzerland ("Der Regenbogenfisch"); the translation is by J. Alison James.
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Summary: Celebration of Appeasement and Mediocrity
Review: We own this book only because my wife ordered it from a book club. Had we looked at the book, we never would have bought it. My two-year old has not seen it, nor will he. He has enough good books. And this book is bad. The book is so bad, destructive, immoral, and wrong that I have trouble figuring out where to start. Well, let's start with the "moral(s)" of the book, which can be summed up as follows: (1) being special is evil, and worthy of hatred; (2) if you do not give your possessions away to others on their demand and pursuant to their coercion, you will be rightfully hated; (3) you will be happy only if you are mediocre; (4) you need to bribe people to be your friends. And the message here is not about sharing. Notice, the Rainbow Fish does not "share" his scales (sharing would imply that his friends were going to give the scales back when they are done.) No, the Rainbow Fish is compelled (by emotional coercion) to give away that which makes him special. What part of this story is supposed to be edifying? It is garbage.
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