The Copycat Fish

Rainbow Fish and Friends

by Gail Donovan, David Austin Clar (Illustrations)

Following the spectacular launch of this new series, Rainbow Fish, Spike, Rosie, and all the other students in Miss Cuttle's undersea classroom return in two new adventures.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, School, Fiction

24 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Gail Donovan was fired from her first job in an ice cream shop for making the sundaes too big. She now works in a library and writes middle grade novels, including IN MEMORY OF GORFMAN T. FROG, named to the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing list; FINCHOSAURUS, winner of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award; as well as the trilogy SPARROW BEING SPARROW (Publishers Weekly, starred review), SPARROW SPREADS HER WINGS (Maine Literary Award winner for Young People's Literature), and SPARROW, ALWAYS. She has also written for the Rainbow Fish & Friends picture book series based on the bestselling work of Marcus Pfister. Donovan lives on the coast of Maine, where she jumps in the ocean all year round.

Reviews

[Emily Gerstenschlager]

Read 6/9/21
Genre: Fiction
Grade: K-3
I think this is a great book to read if there is an issue with copying in school. Often times children will get angry when people are being copycats, so it's important to address this subject. Helping students understand that others copy them because they like their ideas and that's okay is important as a teacher. I think students will be much more inclined to work together and understand why someone might want to do things the same as them after reading and discussing this book together.

[Justine]

As fans of Rainbow fish we knew that we would also enjoy this read. I can’t relate to rainbow fish about how annoying a copycat would be but once he learned that it was because the other fish just wanted to be like him because he idolized him his whole demeanour changed. We enjoyed this read and also the classic rainbow fish illustrations.
We would recommend this to all readers.

[chickienuggies™]

I remember the copy cat fish being a little freak I wanted to punch so I gotta reread sometime

[...m...]

This is one of the books that was given to us by family as a "pass-down" gift.

My daughter loved it, and she actually offered her two cents too.

She said that she loves to copycat because sometimes that's how she learns. We talked about how some people might get annoyed at seeing copycats or being copied. But, she let me know that she would know when they were getting upset and stop.

I've always loved the illustrations of the Rainbow Fish books. Watercolor is one of my favorite mediums to paint with as well as look at.

[Amy Olson]

I like to use this book with younger students because they often get offended when someone copies them, the familiar "He's COPING ME!" is usually heard through K and on up into higher grades. Teachers can use this book to show that if someone copies you they are showing admiration and it is a compliment "Great minds think alike"

[Adam Hardesty]

This is a story about a young fish looking up to Rainbow fish and driving him crazy. He copies everything he does and is always wondering what he is doing. At first this makes Rainbow fish very mad but once he realizes it is because the copycat fish looks up to him he accepts him and they work together. This is a good book to teach about friendship and teamwork.

[Taylor]

I read this book to my little brother and he loved it. I would recomend this book to any little kids.

[Keli Wright]

cute kids book I got at the thrift store. I really like rainbow fish

[Rose]

E Pfi

[Shauna]

Cute. Teaches kids that it is okay if someone copies them, it shows admiration.

[Theresa]

The Copycat Fish
Donovan, Gail *
a good connections book

[Modboy]

Rainbow Fish starts getting annoyed when another fish starts copying his cool moves. He learns, and we learn along with him that when somebody copies you it can be a sign of complement.

[Theresa]

Rainbow Fish & Friends: The Copycat Fish
Donovan, Gail *
a good connections book

[Sushil Shimpi]

Our son enjoyed listening to this book and we have read it multiple times

[Cassi]

good for community building. copying turned into working together in this book.