The Magic Fish (Paperback)

by Freya Littledale (Author) "ONCE UPON A TIME there was a poor fisherman..." (more)
Key Phrases: pretty house

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A greedy fisherman's wife is granted every wish but can't find happiness.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590411004
• ISBN-13: 978-0590411004
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,942 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic tale retold, March 20, 2001

By	Chess Heart "paxbear" (Cattauraugus County, NY) - See all my reviews

The Magic Fish is a classic fable of greed that all people (not just children!) should read and familiarize themselves with. An old fisherman and his crabby, demanding wife live by the sea. She demands that he go catch some fish, and the fisherman snags a bug-eyed, yellow talking magic fish. The Fish is really a prince, and the fisherman frees him. His wife, angry that he returned empty handed, demands that he go back and demand a pretty house from the fish. Her wish is granted.

One can see where this leads to: the wife continually demands more and more wonderful things for herself (is this where the term "fishwife" came from??) until the magic fish becomes angry and takes EVERYTHING back. The fisherman, who meanwhile didn't WANT to keep going back to the magic fish, was perfectly happy with what he already had.

"The Magic Fish" is a fable that we simply don't hear enough of these days, and I think it would be good if we heard it more often. Our culture is one where we are constantly encouraged to buy, buy, BUY and our spiritual wealth is often judged by our material wealth: more stuff = happiness. The tale of the magic fish, with it's stout, heavy illustrations by Pels, reminds us that sometimes what we HAVE is all that we NEED, and greed comes before a fall. Highly recommended for all ages.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An introduction to fairy tales, folklore, and magic, February 19, 2005

By	Matt Hetling "Matt" (Bethel, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This folk tale is unlike most of the storybooks that you'll find marketed towards children. It is much closer to the original grim fairy tales in that it has something of a sense of menace and danger about it, and also lacks the now-requisite happy ending.

It tells the story of a fisherman who earns the favor of a magic fish through his own good-heartedness. He has no thought of reward, but his wife convinces him to ask the fish to upgrade their hut to a house, which the fish seems happy to do. But then the wife continues to convince the fisherman to go ask the fish for upgrades, until she is Queen of the land and wants to be Queen of the Sun and the Stars.

Every time the fisherman goes to ask the fish for something else, the sea is stormier, although the fish says nothing. In the end, the fish decides that the wife has asked for too much, and takes away everything.

There is so much going on in this story that a child can enjoy it for years. The characters and their relationship to each other provide for an instructive discussion about why we do favors, and why we should be reasonable in our requests. It also tells us a lot about what it takes to be happy.

The repetitive nature of the plot should also be comforting to children.

I really recommend the 1967 edition, which was masterfully illustrated by Ed Arno. The pictures are done in blue and black, with a funky thick-line-drawing style which perfectly captures the mood of each page.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first book I learned to read! It's still a favorite., August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Magic Fish (Hardcover)

This book has a "forever" place in my heart. As a child I would never tire of listening to my mother read it to me. Imagine her surprise when I was able to read it back to her! (Okay, so I probably had it memorized, but it still felt good to be "reading") I have looked all over for it. I am glad I finally found it.Thank you Amazon.com. I would love to share it with my children.