Is the Children's Book "The Rainbow Fish" Problematic?

Why Is The Rainbow Fish Problematic?

The Rainbow Fish is a 1992 picture book written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister, who wanted to write a story that teaches sharing while also cautioning children about being prideful.

Visually, the book is a treat. Beautiful blues are accented by greens and purples in a bevy of dreamy colors. The star of the story is adorned with sparkling rainbow scales that glisten on every page, and the adjacent fish flutter across the page in their own spectrum of soft colors. If you don't look at the text, it's easy to fall in love with these lovely images.

The book was so popular, it spun off eight sequel books, a board game, a card game, a PC game, a direct-to-VHS special, and an HBO animated series—not to mention toys and teaching guides. It's also common to find adults and kids wearing images from the book on all types of apparel.

But if so many people love The Rainbow Fish well into adulthood, then what could be so harmful to kids about this millennial classic?

The Rainbow Fish Story

His Day Was Going Swimmingly

The story begins with the title character just minding his own business. He is swimming along, feeling grateful for his beautiful scales and just enjoying the day. He is not bothering anyone.

Enjoying your looks is often said to be sinful pride or of "evil" vanity in most religious circles, but let's look again. Rainbow isn't the one saying that he is the most beautiful fish. Other fish gave him that distinction. He isn't looking down on anyone for being "less" beautiful. He's openly showing gratitude for something he was born with. Parents and teachers often complain about children never being grateful enough for them, but when a child does show gratitude for something they have, it's discouraged, and the child is accused of being "vain" or "boastful." This is a big reason why many adults grow up with self-image issues, because they were taught at an early age never to take joy in how they look.

A couple of other fish see him and want to play with him because he is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. It's not because they're friends with him or that they want to get to know him. They see something pretty and they want to be near it.

This is not unlike how some people try to hobnob with those who are even mildly famous so they can bask in the same fame and glory. By the 2010s, it was a common sight to see people push themselves onto social media influencers just to say they hung out with the "pretty people" and this level of vanity is never addressed in The Rainbow Fish. The other fish aren't interested in Rainbow for his personality or for anything that makes him who he is, they only want to play with him because he is pretty.

Rainbow doesn't notice that the other fish are calling to him, because he is in his own head and just feeling grateful for his scales. Most teachers will tell your child that this is Rainbow being "selfish and rude" by "ignoring" the other fish, but in reality, this isn't the case.

Maybe he's an introvert? Maybe he can't hear them from so far away under all that water? Or maybe he is just happily swimming along in his own little spot? These perfectly rational reasons are usually dismissed.

Selfish or Self-Preserving?

It gets disturbing when Rainbow is suddenly followed by a little blue fish. Blue swims up to Rainbow and starts demanding one of his rainbow scales. Why? "You have so many."

This is Blue's reasoning. You have a lot. I don't have any. Gimme.

Disturbed, freaked out, and a little angry, Rainbow tells him "no" and "get away from me," clearly feeling unsafe.

Now let's pause. Most teachers will insist that this is "bad" behavior because Rainbow should immediately share whatever he has when asked without question. And this is a very toxic lesson that modern psychologists rebuke.

Let's say you're walking down the street and a stranger follows you. He decides he's entitled to part of your skin, or a lock of your hair, or your clothes. What would you do? Would you automatically drop everything and give up whatever was demanded of you? As a society, we can't lie and say "that's different" because it's not. Blue is asking Rainbow to pull off a part of his body for Blue's pleasure. That's creepy.

Teaching your child to automatically give up parts of themselves or even their own possessions is toxic. It teaches kids that they don't deserve autonomy, they are never entitled to their own things and that "no" is a "bad" word.

Sharing is something kids usually start deciding to do by themselves as they get older. Forcing sharing onto your child breeds resentment and erases their autonomy. It's important to teach your child that it's healthy to set boundaries and to say "no" when they feel uncomfortable, especially with strangers.

What if a stranger walked up to your child and demanded a lock of their hair? Would you scold them for feeling disturbed and screaming "get away from me" like Rainbow? Again, we can't pretend this is "different" when the same would apply as much to a fish's naturally grown scale as it would your child's hair or skin.

Rainbow isn't being "selfish." He is setting a boundary. He is upset by Blue's disturbing demand and he has the right to feel that way. "No" and "get away from me" are the correct phrases when a stranger starts demanding pieces of you. If you feel unsafe and if someone wants part of your body for any reason at all, make as much noise as you can and get to safety.

Tipping the Scales

When Blue doesn't get his way, he tells all of the other fish what happened and all of the fish decide to exclude Rainbow from everything, bullying him. Rainbow ends up feeling isolated and sad.

Let's pause again and put this into a human context. How often do we hear in the news that a girl told a man "no" only for him to run her name into the dirt? How many times have we heard that someone was stalked, hacked, doxed, impersonated online, had their photos stolen, had their heads photoshopped onto pornographic images or had people spread lies about them, just because they set a healthy boundary?

How many times have we heard on social media about a child who was ostracized by an entire school because of a bully? How often do we hear about kids as young as nine turning to self-harm because someone told a tale about them to an entire class and all the kids decided to treat them like they were a monster?

Blue does exactly this to Rainbow. He isn't allowed to rip off a piece of Rainbow's body, so he punished Rainbow by ruining his name. This isn't a tale of Rainbow "getting his comeuppance for pride." This is Rainbow being targeted, and considering there are no other rainbow fish in the story, you can easily see how a child already criticized for their race would feel reading this part of the story, especially if a teacher suggested it to them.

Distraught, Rainbow seeks out the wise Octopus, who tells Rainbow to give up all of his beautiful scales to all of the fish as a peace offering.

Pause.

Rainbow is being told to rip himself up to please people who already decided to invent a fake problem with him. Why is this being taught to children? How would you feel if your child chopped off all of their hair to give to school bullies? Essentially, this is what Rainbow is being told to do.

Bullying in Technicolor

Rainbow is devastated. He is pressured into disobeying his own very rational boundaries. Tear himself up or continue being isolated and ostracized by fish he doesn't even know. He is clearly depressed and frustrated, but the Octopus swims away, feeling very proud of herself for this horrifying advice.

Blue gets the first scale, and as soon as he gets what he wants, he tells every fish he can to go get whatever they want off of Rainbow's body. Rainbow gives up everything that made him special to appease the fish he again, does not even know. Rainbow is stripped down and forced to blend in and obey a society that just a few pages ago would have sold him to McDonald's to have him filleted and battered.

The other fish decide to act nice around him and act like friends because they got what they wanted from him. What does he get in return? The idea that this is "friendship" when in reality, it isn't. A real friend won't be your friend because of what you give them, but for who you are as a person. If you have to pay someone to be your friend, that's not friendship, that's an escort service.

Rainbow never again grows back the scales he lost. Some of these fish even disappear in future stories, meaning that their friendship ended as soon as they got what they wanted. He ripped himself asunder for no real reason.

This is why the text of The Rainbow Fish is problematic. It teaches children that their boundaries are worthless, "no" is "rude," and that if ever someone wants something of you, you have to give in or face cruelty. This is a dangerous story, especially if you are trying to teach your children about stranger danger.

It's fine to admire the beautiful illustrations, but when it comes to children's stories, you'd be better served teaching your child autonomy via The Three Little Pigs than this book about a fish who has to destroy what makes him beautiful to avoid public ostracization.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2024 Koriander Bullard