The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino

The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino

Rating: 5 stars

Simple tale, simple illustrations, simple winner.  I know Sheryl Crow wasn't the one to coin this phrase, but the line from her song sticks out: "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got."  What a good lesson...and not one that I've mastered, as I'm a dream customer for any of Anthropologie's weekly emails that enter my inbox.  I try...

This story is about a little girl who wants a pony.  That's all she wants.  She asks for a pony every Christmas, every birthday, every time she goes to sleep at night.  She's sure that today, her fourth birthday, the box she's about to open is very small pony.  But it's not.  It's a goldfish.  She's about to flush it down the drain (yikes!) when the goldfish magically speaks up and tells her that if she sets him free, he can grant her any wish.  So she wishes for TWO ponies and sets off for the nearest lake.

On the way there, she realizes she needs to walk carefully so as to not upset his water.  She shades the fish from the sun.  She stops at a pet store to buy the fish a snack.  When they reach the lake, the fish and girl sit together and watch the sunrise.  Instead of setting him free, she takes him home--she no longer wants the pony.  She's content with her fish.

It was a good book to read around Christmas, though we were pretty good at keeping gifts to a reasonable limit.  But it's a good book to know about if this lesson needs to be taught again, like I need it taught to me again.  And again.  And again.