Somewhere over the Rainbow Fish
Written: Dec 03 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautifully illustrated, Messages about sharing and wealth/happiness.
Cons: This book does contain a few mixed messages that I consider negative.
The Bottom Line: Its a beautifully illustrated book with a strong message about sharing. It unfortunately can be confusing and send mixed messages.
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| marytara's Full Review: Rainbow Fish Books |
This review is part of "A Child's Read" Write-Off hosted by Andrew_Lim.
I've been enjoying building my son's library with classics as well as "new" books and The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister was one that came highly recommended to me.
I was not familiar with the tale of the Rainbow Fish before reading this book. According to the back cover of the book, the story was originally from Switzerland. The story is all about a beautiful little fish, called rainbow fish.
Like the little rainbow fish, the book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is beautifully illustrated and is all in shades of blues, purples, aqua, etc. The scales on the fish are done in a silver metallic so that they glitter and shine. The illustrations are so well done that they seem to come alive and both you and your child will be sure to enjoy them. My son loves shiny things, so this is right up his alley!
The Rainbow Fish comes in a variety of formats, including Hardcover, Softcover, Board Book and Bath Book. For younger children, I'd definitely recommend the bath book or board book. We use the bath book frequently (in and out of water) and the theme of fish naturally goes well with splashing at bathtime (or in a pool). For the target audience of (4-7 yrs of age) I'd recommend the hardcover full size book. There is even a set that you can purchase that includes a stuffed little rainbow fishy along with the book, so that this would make a cute gift for a young child. And if you are a true fan of Rainbow Fish, additional books & videos in the series are available about other adventures of Rainbow Fish.
If you are not familiar with the story of The Rainbow Fish, here is a quick overview. The Rainbow Fish is a story of a little fish who is quite beautiful. When asked to share one of his beautiful scales he does not and so no other fish in the sea want to associate with him, forcing him to be a loner and very sad. A "wise" octopus tells him to give away all his scales in order to be happy. So, he does. He gives away all but one of his scales to the other fish and, in turn, he gains their friendship as well as happiness.
Woah, Mixed messages, right? Absolutely. This book intends to be about sharing, but there are a few other messages that come in along the way.
Positive Messages:
-Sharing with others will gain you friends and as a result, you will be happier. Sharing is a positive and rewarding experience.
-Be generous to others, if you do not share and are greedy then you may be all alone and miserable
-Don't flaunt your wealth or show off
Negative Messages:
-Change yourself to please others
-Give away your things (bribe others) to gain friends. (This may include things you have worked hard for or your own natural gift of beauty!)
-Shed your uniqueness and become like everyone else and then you will be liked.
-If you are different no one will like you.
-Bow to peer pressure
-Change your self image to be liked.
-Don't be proud of your special gifts that you were born with and your natural beauty.
All those messages for a short children's book. You betcha! Good and bad messages a like, its amazing what you and your child can learn from such a simple story. So, is there a place for this book in your child's library? Well, that's up to you. I do recommend this book to others - but not without some reservations.
Be sure to check out reviews from all the participants in "A Child's Read" Write-Off:
Andrew_Lim (host)
brendametcalf
DGTurtle2
kelly60
lightnin
lisaw1215
madamecp
marytara
Mom2TyZick
pamelita3099
sampo24
Social14
soothsayer
tibullus
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
marytara
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 in Education, Kids & Family |
 - Top 50 |
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Member: MT
Location: Jersey Shore
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