Sharing Is Caring

Picture book The Rainbow Fish, written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister, is the story of a rainbow fish who learns about beauty and friendship as he discovers the joy of sharing with others.  Translated by J. Alison James, this book was originally published in 1992 in Switzerland under the title Der Regenbogenfisch, and was published by North-South Books in the U.S. in the same year.  The blues and purples of Pfister’s watercolors are beautiful, but the underwater world they create is sometimes interrupted by all-white, text-only pages.  The namesake fish glimmers across the pages, his holographic scales all over his body on the book’s beginning endpapers in contrast with the single holographic scale left on the final endpapers.  Therein lies the message of the book: the rainbow fish’s vanity keeps him from having any friends until he learns to share his beautiful scales with the other fish who admire his beauty so much. On the one hand, this is a wonderful lesson for children to learn about not being prideful about one’s appearance and learning to give sacrificially, the latter part of this theme reminiscent of Silverstein’s The Giving Tree.  On the other hand, it can leave the reader wondering: should I have to give away my beauty, or any part of myself, to make others happy?  Despite the controversy that sometimes surrounds the message of this book, as with The Giving Tree, its heart seems to be in the right place as Pfister closes the text: “The Rainbow Fish shared his scales left and right.  And the more he gave away, the more delighted he became. When the water around him filled with glimmering scales, he at last felt at home among the other fish…Finally the Rainbow Fish had only one shining scale left.  His most prized possessions had been given away, yet he was very happy.” The beautiful colors and glimmering scales will enchant readers at storytime, and the lesson of generosity, humility, and selflessness is worth sharing and discussing.