The Rainbow Fish
“This is what the author means,” so often teachers, reviewers and readers say.
I’ve often wondered how they know, unless the author has specifically stated it.  When I was in school, my teachers, then my college professors told us this or that was what the author actually meant about books, plays and short stories we were reading.  They would pull out a commentary of some “expert’s” opinion and say that was what the author meant. Reviewers often tell us the same thing.
However, I often wondered, “Did the author actually say this is what he/she meant by that story?”  Yes, sometimes the …read more

My kids’ tastes ebb and flow more quickly than the tides. Katie, in particular, will practically be so attached to a book for a few days that my husband and I worry that it will have to be surgically removed from her hands. She will even sleep with her favorites under her pillow, just in case.
About a year ago, she was fixated on Swiss author’s Marcus Pfister’s Rainbow Fish (oder Regenbogenfisch auf deutsch). The book was loved a little too much to death and was subsequently replaced with a German version that my husband picked up on …read more