One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

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]
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

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

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 Flash-animated preschool series based on the book, simply named “Red Fish, Blue Fish” was released on September 8, 2025 on Netflix. ^[4] 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.

In popular culture

• In the Supreme Court case, Yates v. United States (2015), Justice Elena Kagan cited the book in her dissent to support the argument that fish are tangible objects as defined in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. ^[8]
• A book titled One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads was published in 1994, a parody of the title. ^[9]
• The title of the 1991 episode of The Simpsons "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is a clear parody of the title.
• In the Season 5 episode of The Big Bang Theory titled "The Good Guy Fluctuation", Sheldon observes that "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" might be surprisingly applicable to Leonard's sexual fidelity dilemma.
• The hook of rapper Chief Keef's 2015 single "Colors" parodies the title of the story.
• Similarly, the 2017 song "1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot" by rap artist Yung Gravy draws from the story's title parodically.

Theme park attraction

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 (1999-05-28)
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Water Ride
Theme	One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Vehicle type	Fish
Duration	3 min
Universal Express available

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

• Visje een visje twee visje visje in de zee (1972, Dutch, ISBN   9024002958)
• דברים מוזרים קורים בספרים (1980, Hebrew) ^[10]
• 一条鱼，两条鱼，红色的鱼，蓝色的鱼 (1992, Chinese (Simplified), ISBN   9573211246)
• Un pez, dos peces, pez rojo, pez azul (2006, Spanish, ISBN   1930332831)
• Eyn fish, tsvey fish, royter fish, bloyer fish (2007, Yiddish, ISBN   9780972693936)
• Poisson un, poisson deux, poisson rouge, poisson bleu (2011, French, ISBN   9781612430294)

References

1. "Book - Seussville". www.seussville.com. Retrieved 2025-08-30.
2. Roback, Diane; Britton, Jason; Turvey, Debbie Hochman (December 17, 2001). "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books". Publishers Weekly. 248 (51). Retrieved January 22, 2013.
3. National Education Association (2007). "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" . Retrieved August 22, 2012.
4. Petski, Denise (March 15, 2022). "Netflix Orders Five Dr. Seuss-Inspired Animated Preschool Series & Specials". Deadline. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
5. "Watch Summer Playlist". Netflix. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2025-08-24.
6. Lang, Jamie (June 11, 2025). "'Minecraft,' 'Clash of Clans,' 'Magic the Gathering' and 'Ghostbusters' Series Teased at Netflix Annecy Studio Focus". Variety. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
7. Milligan, Mercedes (June 18, 2025). "Netflix Lines Up a Lively Animated Feature and Series Slate Thru 2025". Animation Magazine . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
8. "SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES : YATES v. UNITED STATES" (PDF). Supremecourt.gov. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
9. Valentine, Johnny; Sarecky, Melody (1994). One dad, two dads, brown dad, blue dads. Boston, MA: Alyson Wonderland. ISBN   1555832539.
10. The literal English translation of the Hebrew title is Strange Things Happen in Books.

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