I've caught a real gem! (The Rainbow Fish - Marcus Pfister)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	The Rainbow Fish - Marcus Pfister
Date:	22/06/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wonderful read

Disadvantages: It could be long for some children

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 him. Eventually a wise, old octopus brings light on the situation and the rainbow fish has to make a decision which will affect his life forever.

The book is beautifully illustrated with wonderful blues and purples taking over each page. I actually found the pictures really calming. The rainbow fish himself has sparkly bits of wrapping paper as scales which as smooth to the touch and adds real character to the whole book.

The book is quite long and there are some rather intellectual words o some pages which I'm not sure that Noah would have understood although the whole story put together is rather simple and easy to tell.

I really enjoyed this story and have now read it over a nd over again due to Noah's obsession with fish. I love the moral of the story which basically encourages the reader to give to otehrs. As a christian I really want Noah to learn this principal without expecting to receive anything back but the joy that he has made someone happy. This is very biblical and this book really helps him to understand the good of giving.

Noah really enjoyed looking very closely at the scales on Rainbow fish and I showed him how it changed shape when I moved the book from side to side or up and down. He learnt the story despite it being rather long and I have caught him reading it to himself on numerous occasions.

Over all this story is highly recommended by me because it's not only engaging but the principals are spot on and it takes longer than two seconds to read which is always a bonus in my eyes!

If you want to purchase it then it retails at £5.99 in Waterstones which I think is an excellent price for a high quality read.

Summary: A great story that has beautiful illustrations.