'The Rainbow Fish' by Marcus Pfister
Celebrating 25 Years of The Rainbow Fish! This gorgeous classic story teaches a valuable lesson about sharing, kindness and friendship.
The Rainbow Fish is the story of a fish with tons of beautiful shimmery scales. The other fish gaze admiringly at him but, feeling proud, he ignores them. When they ask if he will share his scales, the rainbow fish refuses. Soon, word spreads that he has been unkind to the other fish and no one wants to play with him. With no one around to admire his scales, the rainbow fish begins to feel lonely. A wise octopus 🐙 encourages him to share his scales in order to find the happiness he desires. It's hard. Very hard at first. But, once the rainbow fish begins giving away his scales, he realizes how wonderful it makes him feel. Soon he gives away all but one scale and he is very, very happy. I don't want to jinx it, but I am so taken aback by what a wonderful little sharer my son has been thus far. He has the neighbors come right in and take whatever toy they want so they can all play together and he is excited to let them. The other day at a splash pad a little boy had a bulldozer he wanted to play with so he asked me for two of his cars. I watched him go over to the boy show him his cars and ask if he could play with the bulldozer while the other boy played with his cars. The little boy sweetly agreed and the two played beautifully. It warms my heart to see kids sharing ❤️ especially since as adults it's a foreign concept to just go up and ask someone for something that's theirs or they're using. These kids often remind me that we belong to each other.
We read The Rainbow Fish before spending a day at the park where my son made a new friend and shared his cars with her the whole day. On the way home from the park we talked about The Rainbow Fish and how good it made him feel to share with his new friend that day. I truly think this book really helps cement some of the values I hope to instill in him. It is a bookshelf staple and great for the summer 🐠