One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

"One Fish..." is really composed of several "short" sections that can be read in any order, so for a toddler, it's perfectly fine to skip around. In fact, this is conducive to a toddler's randomness - one day it's "Hop hop hop, I am a Yop"; another day it's "From there to here."


My Daughter's Favorite Book by Dr. Seuss   August 27, 2000
Professor Donald Mitchell (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 97,000 Helpful Votes Globally)
31 out of 34 found this review helpful

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish was her pick as the best of the books by Dr. Seuss.

One of the appeals of this book is that it is relatively easy to learn to read, yet has much more variety than most other early readers. So your child will feel like she or he has accomplished a lot with reading this book, which is correct.

The title gives the key to why this book works well as an early reader. One word is changed at a time, with a clear illustration next to it. Most children will read the illustrations like a rebus and later associate the words with the sounds of the name for the pictures. At some point, they begin reading from the words. Very nice!

Here's another sequence: "black fish blue fish old fish new fish."

Then, when he moves on, he uses simple rhymes: "This one has a little star. This one has a little car."

Next, he progresses to substituting "some" for "fish" and adding a single verb to make a sentence as in "Some are read . . . . Some are old."

So almost any child can soon begin to read along with few errors in the first 2 or 3 pages. Whenever the child can go no more, you can just keep going. With repetition, more of the book becomes memorized and the process continues.

There is another reward for you and your child: The book also previews many of the wonderful characters and rhyming schemes that appear in other Dr. Seuss books. As a result, it will be easier to get started reading those books. You will feel like you are seeing an old friend again.

You can also use each rhyme to take off on your own speculations. Our daughter used to love to come up with alternative rhymes that fit the pictures.

Books like this one make it great fun to be either a parent or a child. In some cases, this book will be there for you in both roles over 20 to 40 years!

Overcome your mistaken beliefs about how children can start to learn to read by seeing your child start naturally by associating the words with the pictures as you read this wonderful book to him or her!

The greatest book ever written by anybody ever.   September 24, 2000
Evan Streb
22 out of 24 found this review helpful

Allright ya little PUNKS. You go read your Tom Clancys and your sappy Danielle Steel romance novels and your "Bridges of Madison County"s and we can even go back time to your Mark Twains and your "Catcher In The Rye"s, you go read ALL of that. Then read THIS book, and YOU tell me which one is better. Because NONE of that can match the emotional intensity of reading to your kids at bedtime: "Once there was a little Nook. On his hat he had a hook. On his hook he had a book. On his book was "How to Cook". But a Nook can't read and a Nook can't cook, so what good to a Nook is a hook cook book?" AWESOME!


My 6 Month Old Loves This Book!   November 10, 1999
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

After reading this book to my 6 month old, I'm convinced it's never too early to read to a child. She recognizes those wonder rhyming patterns and squeals in delight.


IF YOU WISH TO WISH A WISH   February 3, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

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At least two generations of parents and their children have now been immersed in the wonderful world of Dr Suess. The fun filled fantasy world of Dr Suess has lost none of its charm. "One Fish Two Fish" is one of his best.

The theme of this book is "funny things are everywhere". Dr Suess goes on to prove this by introducing a long list of fantastic but friendly characters. The creatures are at times outrageous looking but they are never frightening. There is no chance of monster-phobia developing in children after reading these books.

Anything is possible in this book. You have to love the seven hump Wump with its eight legs. It bears an uncanny resemblance to a camel.

Children will get to love the rhyme and rhythms of the words in this book. Children will be encouraged to make their own word play. It is possible new skills in creative thinking and even musical aptitude may emerge in children after having fun in the Suess world. On thing is for sure, a love of reading will certainly be encouraged.

Spatial thinking is encouraged with humorous signposts to Near and Far, and Here and There. Young minds will adore taking the advice "if you wish to wish a wish".

"One fish two fish" makes a great bedtime book. It is long enough and exhausting enough to pacify the most agile young mind. They can go off to dream land pondering "did you ever fly a kite in bed" and then "curl up with your Pet Zeep".