The Rainbow Fish

Former conservative [[Radio personality|radio host]] [[Neal Boortz]] said that ''The Rainbow Fish'' in his view was, "...one of the biggest pieces of trash children's books ever published"<ref name="Matt Welch, 'Don't Be Like the Rainbow Fish' article in Reason Magazine" /> for the similar reasons to that of Welch, as Welch states in the Reason article, "...[the Rainbow Fish] only gets truly ostracized because he won't hand over his body parts on demand, in the name of equality."<ref name="Matt Welch, 'Don't Be Like the Rainbow Fish' article in Reason Magazine" />

Former conservative [[Radio personality|radio host]] [[Neal Boortz]] said that ''The Rainbow Fish'' in his view was, "...one of the biggest pieces of trash children's books ever published"<ref name="Matt Welch, 'Don't Be Like the Rainbow Fish' article in Reason Magazine" /> for the similar reasons to that of Welch, as Welch states in the Reason article, "...[the Rainbow Fish] only gets truly ostracized because he won't hand over his body parts on demand, in the name of equality."<ref name="Matt Welch, 'Don't Be Like the Rainbow Fish' article in Reason Magazine" />

In 2020, playwright [[Topher Payne]] released an alternate ending for the book, with art in the style of the original; in Payne's version, after being advised to give up his scales, the Rainbow Fish meets a [[catfish]] who advises him that, rather than "diminish[ing] himself to please others," he should "build up others with kindness." Payne subsequently explained that he discovered ''The Rainbow Fish'' as an adult, and was "repelled" by the octopus's advice: "I was a queer kid growing up in Mississippi (...) I was told you had to make yourself more palatable to others by making yourself less."<ref name=PaynePW>[https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/84128-playwright-s-revisions-of-classic-picture-books-go-viral.html Playwright's Revisions of Classic Picture Books Go Viral], by Claire Kirch, at ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''; published August 20, 2020; retrieved July 4, 2025</ref>

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