One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
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
AuthorDr. Seuss
IllustratorDr. Seuss
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's literature
PublisherRandom House, The Living Books Company (1998)
Publication date
March 12, 1960[1] (renewed in 1988)
Publication placeUnited States
OCLC184473
Preceded byHappy Birthday to You! 
Followed byGreen 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
AreaSeuss Landing
Soft opening dateMarch 1999
Opening dateMay 28, 1999 (1999-05-28)
Ride statistics
Attraction typeWater Ride
ThemeOne Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Vehicle typeFish
Duration3 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]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ 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').