Musicians and TikTok stars Corook and Olivia Barton went viral in the spring of 2023 with their catchy song “If I Were a Fish,” on which this book is based. It’s a somewhat silly song, but carries an important message about being oneself in the face of bias and misunderstanding.
Corook wrote the song after receiving a lot of hate comments on a previous TikTok video. Olivia, their partner, encouraged them to write a song about their feelings.
“If I were a fish,” the book/lyrics postulate, “You’d say ‘Look at that fish … such a rare one!'” On the Internet, however, things are different, causing the narrator/singer to ask, “Why’s everybody on the Internet so mean?/Why’s everybody so afraid of what they’ve never seen?”
The song ends on a hopeful note, however, as Corook and Olivia celebrate their individuality and (through an image of them holding hands), their togetherness:
How lucky are we?
Of all the fish in the sea
You get to be you!
And I get to be me!
On the last page, they join a diverse group of people, including some clearly coded to be queer, to let the negativity slide away and celebrate the freedom to be you and me.
Illustrator Mike Curato’s bold lines and bright colors capture the vibrancy of the song and the iconic green hat that Corook wore in the video.
Fans of the song (and their kids) may be the primary targets for this book, but it could also be a good story for any children who have experienced hate or negative comments online or even elsewhere.
The song is a real earworm, though. You’ve been warned….
