The Rainbow Fish
A Story by Marcus Pfister
Once upon a time there was a fish with shiny, multi-colored scales named Rainbow Fish. He was always fond of his scales. But one day, a small fish asked him if he could have one. Rainbow Fish refused in a very rude way. The other fish were really upset about his behavior and didn’t want to play with him anymore.
Feeling upset, Rainbow Fish sought the advice of the starfish, his only friend left. Star fish told him to go visit the mysterious octopus for advice. Rainbow Fish went to the octopus and asked what he should do. The octopus told him that he must share the beauty of his scales with his friends.
When he encountered the small fish a second time, the Rainbow Fish gave him one of his precious scales and, seeing the joy of this little fish, felt immediately much better. Very soon Rainbow Fish was surrounded by other fish requesting scales and he gave to each of them one of his shiny scales and found friendship and happiness.
Lessons: The message in this book is more about not letting your possessions possess you, about understanding that others won’t like you just because you’re pretty, and about recognizing that friendship isn’t about someone else adoring you but about sharing something, even if all you share is play time (not necessarily possessions). The reason the fish had no friends was because of his arrogant attitude and unwillingness to share.
It represented his learning three important lessons: 1) that his identity need not be tied into his appearance or his possessions, 2) that he shouldn’t consider himself to be superior to the other fish just because their scales were a different color than his, and 3) that sharing your blessings with those around you makes you—and them—feel good.[1]
[1] These lessons are based on the wonderful book review on Amazon.com by Anna M. Ligtenberg. Anna recommends the reading of the “fuller” version of the story and insightfully addresses some of the controversial interpretations of this inspiring story. Retrieved September 20, 2015: http://www.amazon.com/The-Rainbow-Fish-Marcus-Pfister/dp/1558585362
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