Few children’s books are as deeply ingrained into the collective millennial psyche as “Rainbow Fish.” In addition to selling a gazillion copies, Marcus Pfister’s 1992 classic has spawned counting books, board books of opposites, hand puppets, and sequels such as “Rainbow Fish to the Rescue!” and “Rainbow Fish Finds His Way.” What’s not to love about those oh-so sparkling rainbow scales and heartwarming lesson about how sharing leads to happiness far better than selfishness? Only, according to some…that’s not the story’s lesson. In fact, some believe that the book teaches all the wrong lessons.

In a video posted to his TikTok, fifth-grade teacher Mr. Vương (a.k.a “America’s Favorite Teacher”) admitted that while the illustrations were, in fact, great, and the author probably had “good intentions”, he still didn’t like the story behind this award-winning classic. The Rainbow Fish took home the Christopher Award, the Bologna Book Fair Critici in Erba Prize, and the American Booksellers ABBY Award.

For those who never read the book, or perhaps forgot, Vương explains that at the beginning,........

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