The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister is a classic children's story about a small fish with shiny, multi-colored scales. When the other fish in the sea admire his beauty, the Rainbow Fish is initially proud of his appearance. However, when they ask him to share his scales, the
The Rainbow Fish is a children's picture book drawn and written by Swiss author and illustrator Marcus Pfister; it was translated into English by J. Alison James. The book is best known for the distinctive shiny foil scales of the Rainbow Fish. Decode Entertainment turned the story into an animated television series of the same name, which aired on the HBO Family television channel in the United States and Teletoon in Canada from 1999 until 2000. The book has been criticized by Reason magazine for "promot[ing] socialism" and "collectivist" values in a children's book, with some saying that "...[the Rainbow Fish] only gets truly ostracized because he won't hand over his body parts on demand, in the name of equality."