Tiny Treasury

At our house, neither my husband nor I knows exactly who is going to read to the children until the last minute each evening. This is because, board meetings and night classes aside, we allow the girls to choose their night time book. And the decision as to who reads is pretty easy after that: I read the English books and my husbands reads the German books. My husband is fluent in German and has access to a number of great children’s books, it’s a great way to expose the children to another language without pressure.

That said, one book that translates easily in both languages is Swiss author’s Marcus Pfister’s Rainbow Fish (oder Regenbogenfisch auf deutsch). It is, quite simply, a stunning picture book, as illustrated here in prints available on art.com:

In the books, the scales on the rainbow fish (his pride and joy) are shimmery thanks to foil inserts over watercolor prints. The illustrations are especially beautiful in dim light, perfect for right before bedtime.

You’d think that this classic, which remained on the NY Times bestseller list for ages, is pretty innocuous: it’s a book with beautiful pictures and a fairly straightforward storyline (more about that in a bit). It’s my youngest daughter’s favorite right now in English and German (we have both) - she especially enjoys the talking octopus. So imagine my surprise when I surfed over to amazon.com and found this, the most controversial customer reviews that I’ve ever seen on amazon.com for a children’s book! Yes, it’s worth following the link to see such gems as:

Give this book to your children if you would like them to grow up as communist homosexuals.

and

The message made me recoil, it honestly did. It says: if you do not do what I want you to do, I will run whinning to everyone I can and convince them that I have been injured and you will be a social pariah– different is to be fear and emotional bullying is okay.

I will not flog this horse anymore, as Mr. M. Newman, one of the reviewers, said it best any way.

This book is cruel and mean in message and should be kept away from any child that we hope to make into a good, productive citizen of this country.

and

Analysis:

1. I do understand that this is *supposed* to be about sharing, but I think that pulling parts of yourself off and giving them away is not a good idea
2. It seems rather socialist to me–everyone simply must have a shiny scale whether or not they have the capacity to grow their own shiny scales or not.
3. Why should anyone have to pay people to be their friend???

Whoa. It’s a kid’s book. But, boy did it hit a nerve with some people. I never read into what others did, especially the part about pulling bits of yourself off - c’mon, sharing the scales is a metaphor! And, psst, fish don’t really talk either, but that didn’t stop Nemo…

At any rate, I thought the book had a nice moral about sharing. In the beginning of the story, the rainbow fish has no friends and believes that his beauty might enough to make him happy. He eventually finds that it isn’t and he seeks counsel from the wise old octopus who advises him to share with others. In the end, the rainbow fish shares his scales with the other fish and he makes friends.

Despite the negative reviews to the contrary, I don’t think that giving away what makes you special makes you less special. It’s a good lesson to learn that sharing your music, art or talent with others, rather than keeping it to yourself, makes the world a better place. And I certainly didn’t think that the book was some sort of entreaty to give away all of your worldly possessions in order to make friends. Instead, I thought it was a cautionary tale about the dangers of relying upon things to make you happy.

What makes this a good story, no matter what side you come down on in terms of the moral, is that it’s a good book to discuss with your children. That’s one of the best things about children’s books, they provide an opportunity to talk to your children, which often gets lost in today’s busy schedules. You can chat with your children about their favorite characters, what they thought about the story, what the story meant to them. And if you think that there is something wrong with the message, that’s the time to talk to your children about that, too.

All of the controversy about the message notwithstanding, as I mentioned earlier, the book is beautifully illustrated beautifully. In fact, the book and its characters still enjoy a lot of popularity in the mainstream. There is even an HBO animated series based on the Rainbow Fish.

Of course, you’re the best judge of what makes sense for your children. So, rather than rely on a number of mixed reviews, I encourage you to pick up a copy and judge for yourself what the hub-bub is all about. And stop on by afterwards, I’d love to hear what you think!

Rainbow fish, Marcus Pfister, illustrations