One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
| File:One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish (cover art).jpg Front cover, designed by Dr. Seuss | |
| Author | Dr. Seuss |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Dr. Seuss |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Random House, The Living Books Company (1998) |
Publication date | March 12, 1960[1] (renewed in 1988) |
| Publication place | United States |
| OCLC | 184473 |
| Preceded by | Happy Birthday to You! |
| Followed by | Green Eggs and Ham |
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (stylized as One fish two fish red fish blue fish) is a 1960 children's book by Dr. Seuss. As of 2001, over six million copies of the book had been sold, placing it 13th on a list of "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books" from Publishers Weekly.[2] Based on a 2007 online poll, the United States' National Education Association labor union listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[3]
It is a simple rhyming book for beginning readers, with a freewheeling plot about a boy and a girl named Jay and Kay and the many amazing creatures they have for friends and pets. Interspersed are some surreal and unrelated skits, such as a man named Ned whose feet stick out from his bed, a creature who has a bird in his ear, and one man named Joe who cannot hear the other man's call because of a mouse cutting the line.
Audio and video versions
[edit | edit source]Rik Mayall narrated this story as part of a HarperCollins audiobook that also includes The Lorax, Dr. Seuss's ABC and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
In other media
[edit | edit source]In the animated adaptation of Green Eggs and Ham, the titular fish are featured in the beginning of the episode "Train". When Sam, Guy and the Chickeraffe make their escape from a car barreling down a cliff, it lands in a lake where it promptly crushes a house belonging to a family of fish. Later in the episode as the mother checks on her own children, she specifically lists them off as "one fish, two fish, red fish and blue fish".
A 2D animated preschool series based on the book, simply named “Red Fish, Blue Fish” was released on September 8, 2025 on Netflix.[4] It was co-produced with Atomic Cartoons. An episode of the series was previewed as part of Netflix's Summer Playlist in June 2025.[5][6][7]
In the 2022 horror film adaptation The Mean One, based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the red fish and blue fish made an appearance in a fishbowl at the hospital.
Theme park attraction
[edit | edit source]| One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish | |
|---|---|
Entrance of the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride at Islands of Adventure. | |
| Universal Islands of Adventure | |
| Area | Seuss Landing |
| Soft opening date | March 1999 |
| Opening date | May 28, 1999 |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Water Ride |
| Theme | One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish |
| Vehicle type | Fish |
| Duration | 3 min |
The book was the basis of a theme park attraction located at Universal Islands of Adventure in the Seuss Landing area of the park, called "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".
Selected translations
[edit | edit source]- Visje een visje twee visje visje in de zee (1972, Dutch, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
- דברים מוזרים קורים בספרים (1980, Hebrew)[8]
- 一条鱼,两条鱼,红色的鱼,蓝色的鱼 (1992, Chinese (Simplified), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
- Un pez, dos peces, pez rojo, pez azul (2006, Spanish, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
- Eyn fish, tsvey fish, royter fish, bloyer fish (2007, Yiddish, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
- Poisson un, poisson deux, poisson rouge, poisson bleu (2011, French, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).)
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The literal English translation of the Hebrew title is Strange Things Happen in Books.
Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').