A Fish Tale

A true story was the inspiration for this book. It was told by a father who had taken his family for a vacation on another continent. There, people had many customs that were different than what his family was used to back home.

The man had a very pretty little daughter. One of the children in the country his family was visiting noticed the girl. This boy wanted to be friendly and decided to give the girl something he thought she would like. He knew his friends liked it when he shared with them. But the boy's simple offering was not anything this girl was used to. In fact, she thought it was disgusting. So she rejected it and ran away from the boy, who had no idea what he had done wrong. Fortunately, the father saw what had happened and helped.

Actually this father's true story is the sort of thing that can easily happen, and does pretty often. One person tries to do something nice; it's misinterpreted and not well received, and then there are hurt feelings. It can happen with children and even adults. That's why this story is worth telling - over and over. And it can be a good starting point for discussions.