cover image You Can’t Win Them All, Rainbow Fish

You Can’t Win Them All, Rainbow Fish

Marcus Pfister, trans. from the German by David Henry Wilson. NorthSouth, $18.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7358-4287-8

Pfister’s glittery-scaled fish returns, just in time for the character’s 25th anniversary, in a story about being a good sport. Rainbow Fish is having an off day playing hide and seek with his fellow fish, and when his frustrations boil over, he lashes out. “Well, I think it’s a dumb game and I’m not playing!” he shouts before swimming off; a heart-to-heart with another fish and a round of apologies from Rainbow Fish set things right. It’s a story very much in service of the message it aims to impart; families struggling with sore losers in their ranks may find it a useful teaching tool. Ages 4–8. (June)