Cover Image: Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller

Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller

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Member Reviews

We all know people that like to exaggerate and tell tales. Sometimes those stories are taken out of context and can cause chaos. Humbert is such a fish and causes chaos in the pond. With the help of his friends, he learns there is a time and place for story telling.

The Rainbow Fish books are always colorful not only in illustration but in theme as well. A great add to any book collection.

A special thank you to NorthSouth Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

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I loved Rainbow Fish as a kid and it remains one of my favorite children's books. I was so excited when I saw this book available. I think the physical copy would be better but I still enjoyed this digital copy. It was really cute and the illustrations are great. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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When Humbert's imagination gets the better of him and he starts inventing crazy false threats to the lives of himself and the other fish, his friends believe him at first and are alarmed but soon realise the truth and grow weary of Humbert's mendacious nature. Soon, Humbert finds himself friendless, but the Rainbow Fish has an excellent idea: Why not let Humbert channel his over-active imagination through creative storytelling, rather than constantly fibbing about non-existent threats and disturbing everyone? A great book for kids to learn the importance of being truthful and considerate, and realising that the urge to make up stories can be nurtured through a safe, controlled outlet like storytelling!

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Rainbow Fish has always been a popular title in my Media Center. The stories all have purpose and engage young readers in learning the lessons of life. The illustrations are so vibrant and the younger students love the shiny dorsal fins. This latest fits beautifully into those same categories.
The story is reminiscent of the boy who cried wolf . Rainbow Fish meets Humbert, a fish who embellishes to the extent of disbelief by the other fish. Yet, bad is turned to good and Humbert is taught to turn his talents into the positive. A good message is presented and happily accepted by all.
I know Pfister's latest addition to his series will be a hit!

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Another beautifully illustrated Rainbow Fish book. The pictures are vibrant and colorful! Any child would love the pictures. The story is a little much for kids. Humbert meets Rainbow Fish and proceeds to tell him a series of lies to get join him. I believe the story is meant to teach kids about not make assumptions but I don’t like how it went about that. In the middle of the story, Humbert changes to a storyteller who the other fish love to hear his stories. The whole thing was a bit much for kids.

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Loved this retelling of Chicken Little! Humbert is a master storyteller. So much so that his stories were almost believable. Until one day they weren't and the other fish didn't want to listen to Humbert's tall tales. Rainbow Fish wanted to change the perception of the other fish. So he and Red Fin developed a plan to have Humbert start storytelling time where Humbert could exercise his creative skills. The plan worked and all of the other fish couldn't wait for the daily storytelling time, listening to Humbert's fantastic tales.

Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller is such a cute story with a life lesson attached -- that it's not okay to tell tall tales to create scaremongering. But to use that creativity for entertainment and fun.

The illustrations are superbly done with colors and graphics that pop from the pages. Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller is a colorful book, with adorable characters, and a delightful story to match. Five stars.

I received a digital ARC from North South Books. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

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This book was a very cute spin on the boy who cried wolf. My daughter and I read The Rainbow Fish right before reading this new Rainbow Fish and the Story teller. I appreciate the moral of both of the stories. 1st being to always share; you' ll be happier when others around you are happy- sharing is caring. 2nd is that it's not always good to tell stories when they are true, We did appreciate the outcome of Humbert becoming the story teller for all of his friends. His friends can now trust him as he is only telling stories instead of claiming other things are to happen.

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A cute book about how lies get out of hand and how storytelling can be a positive outlet for creative energy. Fans of Rainbow fish will love this new tale with their fishy friend!

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While the original Rainbow Fish (1992) book is an utterly unacceptable tale that conveys the harmful message that one must give away the things (in this case, body parts!) that make one unique in order to be accepted by others, this later installment in the series is much better. Like the boy who cried wolf, the fish Humbert loves making up stories about fictitious threats to the survival of all the fish: a giant plug that will drain away all the water in the ocean, shoals of hostile fish about to launch an impending attack on them, etc. When all the other fish realize that Humbert is a liar, they stop paying attention to him and Humbert is sad. Rainbow Fish realizes that perhaps there is a way for Humbert to exercise his creativity in making up stories after all...but now in a way that doesn't spread false threats and upset others! Can they come up with a plan that will make everyone happy?

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I started using Rainbow Fish in my first class. Kindergarten, 26 years ago. I still use it in my fifth grade class this year. All of the books are great for lessons on friendship, empathy, and science. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a sneak peek.

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This is like getting The Boy Who Cried Wolf, or Chicken Licken, and a sequel, both in the same book. At first Humbert is dastardly with how much he makes the other fish worried – first about a giant plug at the bottom of the sea about to be pulled, draining all the water away, then about evil fish, then a neighbourly whale. Humbert, happily, is not abandoned for all his lying and scare-mongering, rather encouraged to use his imagination for good, and lo and behold everyone is happy. It seems this series is thirty years old or so by now, but on this evidence little quality could have been lost – this is an entertaining piece that's also highly moralistic, in a good way. And it looks great, too – four and a half stars.

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I had to read this book! The nostalgia from the original Rainbow Fish book from my elementary school days would not let me pass by this book.

Humbert is a new fish to the community who likes to make up tall tales for attention and to make himself seem important with no regard for the truth (sounds like someone we all know).

The art is done in the same fashion as the original book and is very pretty.

Themes & topics for discussion: "fakenews", how to deal with lies/liars/attention seekers, trusting your gut about people, rumors, and the importance of fact checking.

*ARC provided by North South Books Inc. & NetGalley.

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Oh my goodness I grew up reading The Rainbow Fish books (pretty sure I had a rainbow fish beanie baby) so when I saw this I knew I needed to take a look! The illustrations are just as gorgeous as I remembered and any kid would enjoy this book! I love that in this Rainbow Fish book kids are encouraged to hold tight to/use their imagination :)

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Rainbow Fish is back in a new story! Rainbow Fish's new friend Humbert keeps telling stories that turn out to be tall tales that scare the other fishes. Rainbow Fish soon realizes that Humbert is just lonely. So they come up with a new idea - Humbert will be a storyteller to their friends, as long as they're not scary stories!

A cute new Rainbow Fish story.

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Wow! What amazing pictures! They are so colorful and beautiful and fit the story so well. This is an excellent childrens book with a life lesson to not lie. This is a great book to read with children as the story is engaging and the pictures will definitely keep their attention!

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Thank you NetGalley and North South Boons for providing me with an eARC of this story in return for my honest review. I grew up reading and adoring the stories and illustrations of Rainbow Fish, so I absolutely jumped at the opportunity to read Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller to my nephew. The illustrations are just as beautiful as I remembered and the storyline was brilliant, a retelling of the boy who cried wolf but with a positive transition to a happy ending! Would highly recommend this story.

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Thank you to NetGalley and North South Boons for the opportunity to read and review an e-ARC. It was a delight to be able to read a brand new Rainbow Fish book, and this is a nice storyline for the collection. In the spirit of the boy crying wolf and telling so many false but scary tales that they become unbelievable, we meet a new fish friend here who's got a knack for wild storytelling. I love that this book encourages the imaginative storytelling while directing the effort in a more productive direction, namely trying to foster the story talents and embracing them as fiction rather than scaring and misinforming others!

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I loved Marcus Pfister's first book and read it to my sons, so I was eager to read this newer story to my grandson. The story took a familiar trope, the boy who cried wolf, but transformed it into a positive story for little ones. The concept that there is a place for stretching the truth, through storytelling is a good one. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

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Rainbow fish meets Humbert, a new fish, and becomes friends with him. But he is not sure about the tales Humbert tells day after day. Rainbow fish and his friends soon stop believing Humbert.
Humbert is now sad that no one wants to talk to him. Rainbow fish and his friends come up with a plan to cheer up Humbert. After all, Humbert is a storyteller. Why not ask him to tell them happy and entertaining stories instead of scary ones?
The story has a similar theme to The Boy and The Wolf but with a cute twist. Humbert is the boy here who spins false tales. But he redeems himself by becoming a storyteller for the other fish.
The illustrations are beautiful. The fish are cute and squishy. The aquatic background and blend of colors make the illustrations pleasing yet colorful.
However, the text seems to be a bit hard for little ones. The first sentence is two and a half lines long. Some dialogues are longish for kids.
Nevertheless, Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller is a sweet and cute book with a moral lesson, some entertainment, and lovely illustrations.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and NorthSouth Books and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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I have read other Rainbow Fish books with my children and while we have enjoyed others, this was not our favorite. Rainbow Fish and the Storyteller is a take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with a focus on exaggeration rather than lying.

What was a miss for me was the ending of the book. After finding a great resolution to Humberts' exaggeration issue, his imagination gets in the way during his storytelling time and the other fish laugh at him until he is red in the face. After the embarrassing encounter, Humbert collects himself enough to continue on with his storytelling and the fish wind up loving his tales but the embarrassment, or how Humbert overcame it, is never mentioned again. As an adult, I had to re-read the last sentence for the sentence to make sense and was left scratching my head why a children's book was written this way. "It was not long before none of the fish ever wanted to miss a single storytelling time with Humbert."

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