BookQuoters
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr. Seuss Get the book
Report a mistake
← Fiction

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

by Dr. Seuss

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a 1960 rhyming picture book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss for the earliest readers. Rather than telling a single story, it unfolds as a string of short, playful vignettes in… more

First published 1960 · 72 pages · English

7 quotes ★ 4.19 (218,220) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!
My shoe is off. My foot is cold. I have a bird I like to hold.
Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head? Did you ever milk this kind of cow? Well, we can do it. We know how. If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good.
I box in yellow Gox box socks.
So, open your mouth, lad! For every voice counts!
a book is just like life and anything can change
Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, very bad. Why are they Sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your dad.

Did you know?

  • The book was first published on March 12, 1960.
  • It is part of the Beginner Books line that Dr. Seuss helped establish with The Cat in the Hat in 1957.
  • By 2001 it had sold more than six million copies and ranked 13th on Publishers Weekly's list of all-time best-selling children's books.
  • It was named one of the 'Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children' in a 2007 National Education Association poll.
  • The book has no continuous plot, instead presenting a series of short rhyming vignettes about imaginative creatures and pets.

About Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), one of the most beloved children's authors of all time. His books have been translated into dozens of languages and sold hundreds of millions of copies, and his honors include Caldecott Honors and a Pulitzer Prize.

More about the author →

More by Dr. Seuss

All books by Dr. Seuss →

About the book

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a 1960 rhyming picture book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss for the earliest readers. Rather than telling a single story, it unfolds as a string of short, playful vignettes in which children describe the fantastical creatures, pets, and everyday oddities around them, threaded together by simple counting and pairs of opposites such as near and far, old and new.

The book is built for beginning readers, using a small controlled vocabulary, insistent rhyme, and Seuss's invented creatures to make early reading feel like a game. Its themes are the pleasures of language and imagination: counting, colors, and opposites are woven through nonsense words and absurd characters like the singing Ying and the bumpy Wump, encouraging young readers to sound words out and delight in the sheer silliness.

Part of the Beginner Books line that Dr. Seuss helped launch, the book became one of his most enduring successes, selling millions of copies and ranking among the best-selling children's books of all time. It remains a fixture of early-literacy shelves and appeared on the National Education Association's list of teachers' top books for children.

Key characters

  • NedA boy whose bed is too short for him.
  • The WumpA bumpy creature the children ride in the book.
  • The YingAn invented creature who likes to sing.
  • JoeA character who cannot hear after a mouse cuts a telephone wire.

Book details

First published
1960
Length
72 pages
Reading time
15 minutes
Author
Dr. Seuss
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
4.19 (218k ratings) →

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    Red Fish, Blue Fish 2025

    Netflix animated preschool series inspired by the book.

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    Green Eggs and HamAnother Dr. Seuss Beginner Book with simple rhyme and a tiny controlled vocabulary.
  2. 2
    The Cat in the HatThe Dr. Seuss book that launched the Beginner Books line for new readers.
  3. 3
    Hop on PopA Dr. Seuss early reader built around rhyming word pairs and wordplay.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Dr. Seuss Get the book
★ 4.19 (218k)
Report a mistake

Keep reading