The Rainbow Fish - Marcus Pfister

We actually have two versions of this book. The first my *eldest* daughter received on her first birthday from Surestart and I've now come to realise that this little hardback board book is a condensed version of the original. The second copy my *youngest* daughter received also on her first birthday, but from one of her Great Aunties. Now this version is an A4 sized paperback with the full length story inside. The book is written by Marcus Pfister and the blurb on the back says it has won many awards which is encouraging. The first part of this review will be about the second version we received (the long one), and then I will give my thoughts ...  Read the complete review

Noah choose this book from the library last week and what a great choice the little tot made! The book is written by Marcus Pfister and was first published in 2007 by North-South books. The story tells of a beautiful fish (the rainbow fish) who all the other fish in the sea admired. One day a small fish calls the Rainbow fish over and asks if he can have one of his beautiful, shiny scales. The rainbow fish is appauled that he would even suggest such a thing and swims off. When all the other fish in the sea about the incident, they no longer gaze at the fish as he swims by and it leaves rainbow fish questioning why everyone is being so horrible to ...  Read the complete review

The rainbow fish is an effective moralistic story designed to appeal to the younger child. a large part of the appeal must be the wonderful illustration which incorporate glittery rainbow fish scales that the fish is eventually persuaded to share with the other creatures. the younger reader is able to follow the storyline through the illustrations which require good observational skills in order to determine the next recipient of a covceted rainbow scale. the ending of the story is delightful and a clear moral message is put across to us all about vanity and lonliness. ...  Read the complete review

I really like this book. It is sweet and gentle and it has a lovely message in it. (to share and that sharing will in turn make things nice for you) The Rainbow fish is the most beautifull fish in the sea but he is also the most lonely until he learns to share... The illustrations are lovely soft and blue (the colour <g>) and my daughter loves looking at the shinny scales that the rainbow fish has. The book leaves lots of scope for talking about things after. Like Sharing, being nice to each other, being beautiful or not.. My oldest daughter was given this book when our youngest daughter was born and she has loved it since the first time we read it ...  Read the complete review

Here's the latest book my wife has brought back for our two year old from the library, and what a nice book it is. It tells the tale of a special fish who has shiny scales. When another fish asks for one, he refuses, only to lose all of his friends. Eventually, a wise octopus tells him he should share his scales to bless others, and he does so. The book contains full colour illustrations, all of which are watercolour paintings. They are nicely done, in more of a sketchy style than detailed work, and only the shiny scales are made up of a metallic paper. The amount of writing in the book is pretty extensive, and it will take a good ten ...  Read the complete review