Rainbow Fish Advent Calendar

Rating:
Summary: I wish I still liked it!
Review: Rainbow Fish has been widely criticized for having a bad message. Well, I don't think the librarian an my school knew this because she read it frequently. I remember this book fondly and even have a framed pic of Rainbow Fish on my wall. But now that I reread it, I totally agree. This book shouldn't be read to young, impressionable children(K-2). Rainbow Fish gave all but one of his shiny scales to the other fish. Think about it parents. What if your child did that with his/her lunch money? Or lunch, for that matter?

I really like the illustrations and can see why this book was popular, I just wish it had lived up to my memories. Maybe a parent could turn the books message around by saying that Rainbow Fish acted without much thought.

R

Rating:
Summary: Under the sea
Review: A great children's author (who, for the sake of her privacy, shall remain nameless) once commented that "The Rainbow Fish", was the third in the triumvirate of picture book mediocrity. The first two being, of course, "Love You Forever" and "The Giving Tree". I don't feel like explaining why this statement is not only brilliant but sublime, so instead I'm going to review this seemingly innocent little picture book. Here we have a very dull book with a very poor message. In my humble opinion, it hardly deserves much notice.

Originally a Swiss picture book (who knew?), "Rainbow Fish" tells the tale of a little sparkly fellow below the sea. The Rainbow Fish glitters and glides in the ocean's depths, ignoring the calls of the other fish to come out and play. One day a little fish asks for one of his shiny scales. The Rainbow Fish is not exactly polite in his refusal, but for some reason this is the comment that causes all the other fish to make him a social pariah. The Rainbow Fish is a little upset by this and asks the advice of a wise old octopus. Unfortunately the octopus is of the opinion that Rainbow Fish should give away the very things that make him special. His shiny scales. Once he has given a scale to all the other fishes he'll look exactly like everyone else and be happy. He does and then is. The end.

I suppose if you looked at this book from a religious context it might make a little more sense. But even then the moral would still run along the lines of give-up-your-worldly-possessions-and-everybody-will-like-you. Hm. What makes this book so offensive to some readers is the simple fact that it's is preaching a kind of same = good mentality. Tis better to meld with the crowd than to hold onto that which makes you an individual and unique, it sayeth. Then there are the illustrations to contend with. In an interesting marketing technique, the shiny scales Rainbow Fish sports are small hologram-ish cut-outs that line his body. Little kids will, presumably, see the shiny things on the cover of the book and immediately grab it. But how stand the rest of the illustrations? Certainly the colors in this tale are luminous and lovely. Pfister has developed a lovely watercolor technique wherein the blended shades of the scenes work perfectly within the context of the story. Unfortunately, the actual illustrations themselves are fairly hum drum. Don't expect the breathtaking loveliness of Eric Carle's "Mister Seahorse" or even the originality of a similar seaside tale, Irene Haas's, "The Maggie B.". Characters here never change expression (except that once in a while their little fishy mouths curl either up or down as appropriate). As a gimmick, the shiny scales work well. Just don't pay much attention to anything else in this tale.

The best advice I can give regarding "The Rainbow Fish" is to recommend Leo Lionni's classic picture book, "Swimmy". Like The Rainbow Fish, Swimmy's a little guppy who's different from everyone else. But rather than, oh say, changing his scale color to blend in, Swimmy uses his unique position in society to help those around him while remaining true to himself. A powerful statement that "The Rainbow Fish" sorely lacks. I'm not saying this is the worst picture book ever written, mind you. Just a mediocre one. With all the wonderful picture books out there, why not grab the best and leave the rest? Or, if we're going to take the advice of the Rainbow Fish to heart, do what everyone else is doing and strive for mediocrity. Hey, it worked for him!

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book About Sharing
Review: Although some would argue that this book teaches people to buy friends, I do not see it in this light. The book simply encourages children to give of themselves to others. As the rainbow fish shares his scales, he feels good about giving a part of himself to make others happy. I don't see how giving oneself to others qualifies as buying friends. My three-year-old son absolutely LOVES this book. He memorized the whole storyline in about a week. He loves to tell me the story as we flip the pages. The illustrations are colorful and exciting for a three-year-old. I would recommend this book as the basis for a discussion on sharing, not on buying friends, but sharing of yourself. This oldfashioned concept is threatened in our ME world.

Rating:
Summary: Teaches the wrong lesson to the most impressionable.
Review: First off, this book doesn't teach children to share or loan, it teaches them to give away anything others want - for the sake of being liked.

This book teaches young children being liked is the most important thing in life. Furthermore, it teaches them the way to be liked is by giving your possesions away, and eliminating the things that make them unique.

According to this book, that will make people like you. This, as anyone knows, is not true. In fact, things given away are most always less appreciated than things earned.

If a child takes the lessons of this book to heart, he/she is going to have a lot of heartache and confusion when they are empty and friendless. You will then get to teach them the reality of life, and hope they are not permanently scarred.

The author of this book apparently believes the world would be a better place if we were all clones and equally bland. No place for individual achievement in that world.

Rating:
Summary: Be wary... Why "bribe" others into being your friend?
Review: I agree that we don't need to flaunt the best things about ourselves, but I am upset that this book (and The Giving Tree) teaches children that they should give up the very things that make them special in order to have friends. If the other characters wouldn't be friends with Rainbow Fish simply because Rainbow Fish wouldn't give a piece of himself to them, then why should he want them as friends? What did they offer? Certainly not friendship! Talk about judging others! I like the story's attempt, but for a child, I think it backfires into a poor lesson!

Rating:
Summary: It's Rather Rotten
Review: I was gratified to see the trillions of lousy reviews for this book on Amazon. Still, I thought I'd throw in my shimmering scale too! And for those who think the book is some sort of insidious left-wing plot -- sorry, I'm as progressive as they come, and I hate the lousy thing too.

The book's "Give up what makes you special and bribe your way to friendship" message has been adequately dissed in other reviews, but even leaving that aside, this just isn't a very good book. The text is insipid and the illustrations (once you look past the very lovely hologram foil effects) are weakly executed. If it had no "message" at all, this would still be a mediocre book, with no wit, originality, or compelling characters to recommend it. Two stars for the pretty kid-attracting fishy scales -- I would give it 1 1/2 if allowed.

Rating:
Summary: Bad message for children.
Review: My cousins, who live in a socialist European country, recently visited us in the U.S., and gave this book to my children as a gift. I love my cousins but think this is a horrible book. The message is clear: if you are better than anyone else, or rise above your peers in any way, no one will like you, and you will be lonely and miserable, as well as the target of envy and sometimes hatred. However, if you bring yourself down to their level, or pay them off, you will be most popular! The book reflects the mentality of the socialist, and demonstrates altruism at its worst. Everyone must be the same, and no one can excel at anything or in any way. The rainbow fish teaches children that it is good to strip yourself raw for the benefit of others, who were never your true friends to begin with, but only wanted something from you and based their acceptance of you on what you could provide for them. You know, kind of like that bad friend in school who loves you when you're down and out, but can't stand it when you lose weight and are looking good or happy or successful. Once the rainbow fish has taken off and given away all its beautiful scales, it is no longer the prettiest fish. The other fish, who each got a scale, are not elevated, but rather, they're all dragged down to the lowest common denominator. One scale each. Not enough to make anyone prettier than anyone else -- no one can really shine. It's not about sharing and love, but more like emotional bribery. I give this book one star, only because I have to, and the illustrations are pretty. Steer clear.

Rating:
Summary: sets bad examples for kids
Review: Pfister adds gold foil to the pages of Rainbow Fish for the fish scales. They seem to be gimmicky efforts to evoke feelings in order to enhance a weak story. The children who read the Pfister book are meant to become envious over the glitter of the gold foil as were the other fishes. Furthermore, the book is also quite steeped in the dreaded didactics. The octopus directly instructs the Rainbow Fish in "correct" behavior. Why should the Rainbow fish give up pieces of his body that protect him, to these other fish just so they will leave him alone? Some might be inclined to call this a Marxist philosophy incorrectly, but for the fact that the other little fish had no "need" for the Rainbow Fish's body parts. They simply wanted them. The worst human emotions should not be evoked in children's literature--at least not held out for modeling. Children should certainly not be encouraged to model conformity, greed, and buying friendship.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible Message
Review: Someone just gave this book to my 19-month-old. Art-wise, it's a beautiful book. But I was just appalled by the ending. Sharing is great - but the rainbow fish should have given a FEW scales away, not all (except one). I will not read this book to my daughter.

Rating:
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.