One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish


One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a 1960 children's book by Dr. Seuss. It is a simple rhyming book for beginning readers. 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. 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".

Plot

The plot consists of numerous vignettes in which a boy and a girl describe fantastical creatures that they have for friends and for pets. Interspersed among these vignettes are skits that feature characters unrelated to the main storyline, including a man named Ned whose bed is too short for him, a creature with a bird in their ear, and a man named Joe who is unable to hear another man phoning him due to a mouse cutting the wire.

Audio and video versions

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 2D animated preschool series based on the book, simply named “Red Fish, Blue Fish” was released on September 8, 2025 on Netflix. It was co-produced with Atomic Cartoons. An episode of the series was previewed as part of Netflix's Summer Playlist in June 2025.
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

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
  • דברים מוזרים קורים בספרים
  • 一条鱼，两条鱼，红色的鱼，蓝色的鱼
  • Un pez, dos peces, pez rojo, pez azul
  • Eyn fish, tsvey fish, royter fish, bloyer fish
  • ''Poisson un, poisson deux, poisson rouge, poisson bleu''