THE RAINBOW FISH

The Rainbow Fish

By Marcus Pfister

Summary

The most beautiful fish in the ocean is asked to share one of his shining scales with a little blue fish, and to which he refuses. All the other fish in the sea leave him alone, and he wondered why. He goes to the wise octopus for advice, and she tells him to give away his scales. Rainbow Fish reluctantly does so, except for one. In the end, he is less beautiful then he was before, but he has new friends and is now the happiest fish in the sea.

Before reading

• How many of you kids have ever owned an item that you didn’t want to share?
• If you were made to, did it make you happier or sadder?
• Would you rather do the right thing or do the thing you want to do?
• Would you rather have something really special all to yourself or have friends?
• Is being unique more important than being liked?

During reading

• When Rainbow Fish refuses give the blue fish one of his scales
• Was Rainbow Fish wrong?
• Was the blue fish acting out of line for asking for something so dear to Rainbow Fish's heart? Was he asking too much of Rainbow Fish?
• What’s the point of being beautiful if you have no friends to admire them?
• The Octopus tells Rainbow Fish to give away his scales
• Is the octopus right in saying having friends is more important than being beautiful?
• When the octopus says, “… You will discover how to be happy,” is she saying that what Rainbow Fish thought of as happy before wasn’t actually true happiness?
• The blue fish receives a scale
• Is it selfish of the other fish to demand Rainbow Fish of all his scales?
• The book says that Rainbow Fish grew more and more delighted as he gave away his scales. Is this true in all cases? If not, give examples.

Questions after reading

• Was Rainbow Fish's decision to share worth it?
• Rainbow Fish was happy with his scales, and he was happy with his new friends. Are there different kinds of happiness?
• Are they true friends if one of the main reasons they like Rainbow Fish is because he gave them something pretty?
• If Rainbow Fish refused to give the blue fish the scale politely, would this have changed the other fish’s perception of him?
• Do you share with your friends? Do you share everything with them?