Sharing my shiny scales with you

I think it goes without saying that almost every child has read or at least seen the eye catching cover of "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister. I first remember seeing the colorful, sparkling fish in elementary school, as I'm sure every elementary classroom in the United States has a copy of the classic children's book sitting on their bookshelf. Although inside was a great story with a strong message, for me it was never really about the story. It was about the pictures, the colors, and the beauty. 

From the moment one picks up "The Rainbow Fish", cover to cover, the pages are flooded with beautiful colors and underwater images. There is a great, tactile, quality to the artwork; foil scales are inset into the watercolor illustrations – adding sparkle and collage interest to each page. The blues, the violets, the greens... all mesh together so perfectly, one can't help but feel sheer happiness at the sight of it. It's like an instant smile painted on every page.

Although my first encounter with "The Rainbow Fish" was at a very young age, before I really knew anything about art, or color, something about it just spoke to me. Maybe it was the illustrations, maybe it was the colors, but most of all, I think it was the foil scales. The shine and sparkle had a way of making me feel good and joyful every time I flipped through the pages. The book just spoke to me and I'm convinced that it was during that period when my love affair with art, design, and color really began.