GOOD NIGHT, LITTLE RAINBOW FISH

For his 20th anniversary, Rainbow Fish gets a bedtime story.

Poor little Rainbow Fish can’t sleep. He tosses and turns, but he’s just too anxious. Mommy sends in the lantern fish, but darkness isn’t the problem. Rainbow Fish asks Mommy to stay and promise she’ll never leave, but even that promise isn’t enough. Rainbow Fish worries that the tide will come in and whisk him away. Mommy promises to swim faster than a swordfish and get Rainbow back home safely. What if he loses his way in a cloud of octopus ink? Mommy promises to find him and dispel the cloud. If a monster fish comes to get him? He’ll have to contend with Mommy first! If a jellyfish threatens? Mommy will rescue Rainbow…even from bad dreams. Pfister’s seventh tale of the sparkly sea dweller, translated from the German, is a perfectly acceptable, though nowhere near innovative, bedtime book. The draw here remains the shiny scales on every page. The watercolor, pencil, and foil illustrations match the rest of the series. Rainbow’s fears are age-appropriate, and young listeners will identify and be comforted.

A formulaic, fishy nighttime read sure to please fans.