"Anyone who has ever held a child on a lap at bedtime while reading ['Goodnight, Moon'] aloud has encountered the Dadaist conundrum of a blank page to connote 'Goodnight nobody' — certainly one of the most potentially frightening concepts for a young rabbit, um, kid, who in falling asleep will be more alone than it is possible to be while awake. That 'Goodnight mush' is on the opposite page is a eucatastrophe: 'We exist! We are alive! We eat food! What a relief!' It’s 'Always look on the bright side of death' for the youngest minds."
The reviewer is Gregory Maguire, who wrote "Wicked" (as well as many children's books).
The famous double-page spread:
ADDED: The word "eucatastrophe" was coined by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1944. He wrote, in a letter: "For it I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears.
He used his own word again in 1947 to say: "The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation."
I suppose the condemnation is about equating what happened to Anne Frank to what is happening to the deportees, but I'd like to throw in a little additional condemnation for not knowing enough about Anne Frank's writing. She wasn't a person with a story to tell. It was "The Diary of a Young Girl." Very little of the book is about the larger political drama that forced her to hide indoors. It's about her life as a young girl, and we, the readers, bring the larger context of the Nazis and how she was captured and died. That story is not in her book, which is about the inward life of a young girl. Anne Frank was an excellent writer, and the world lost her. I hope there's a similarly excellent writer enduring the present-day ordeal, but literary art is something beyond having a good story to tell.
Does Tim Walz even know the book he calls a "children's story"? Anne Frank was 13 to 15 years old when she wrote her diary, and much of it is about emerging sexual feelings — especially the "Definitive Edition." It’s quite striking: "Until I was eleven or twelve, I didn't realize there was a second set of labia on the inside, since you couldn't see them. Moreover, I thought the little tube you use to urinate out of was uninteresting.... When you're standing up, all you see from the front is hair. Between the outer labia are the inner ones... The entrance to the vagina is hidden between them.... The clitoris.... is particularly sensitive."
See "Which Version of The Diary of Anne Frank Is Best?" (Redeemed Reader): "The Definitive Edition includes a section in which she decides 'losing your virtue doesn’t matter' under the right circumstances (Thursday, March 2, 1944). Both editions imply that she is chafing under their circumstances and that both sets of parents disapprove of the time she and Peter spend together in Peter’s room; the diary implies that not much more than kissing is happening.... Obviously, there’s nowhere in public for Anne and Peter to go on dates; just as obvious, though, is that two young people in love are playing with fire to spend lots of unchaperoned time in a person’s bedroom."
Says Penelope, a child in the book "Born Ready," described by Justice Alito in the new Supreme Court case, Mahmoud v. Taylor:
The book Born Ready... follows the story of Penelope, an apparently biological female who asserts “ ‘I AM a boy.’ ” Id., at 458a. Not only does the story convey the message that Penelope is a boy simply because that is what she chooses to be, but it slyly conveys a positive message about transgender medical procedures. Penelope says the following to her mother:
“ ‘I love you, Mama, but I don’t want to be you. I want to be Papa. I don’t want tomorrow to come because tomorrow I’ll look like you. Please help me, Mama. Help me to be a boy.’ ” Id., at 459a.
Penelope’s mother then agrees that Penelope is a boy, and Penelope exclaims: “For the first time, my insides don’t feel like fire. They feel like warm, golden love.” Id., at 462a. To young children, the moral implication of the story is that it is seriously harmful to deny a gender transition and that transitioning is a highly positive experience....
A child's "insides" described as feeling like fire or, alternatively, warm, golden love! Quite aside from the topic of transgenderism, that is — if not blatantly sexual — too closely approximate to sexuality to belong in reading material for children. If I say I'm amazed that school authorities would adopt such a book for classroom instruction, I am sure commenters will scoff at me for being too naive to perceive the deliberate "grooming."
Mr. Patel laid out his vision for wreaking vengeance on the F.B.I. and Justice Department in a book, “Government Gangsters,” calling for clearing out the top ranks of the bureau, which he called “a threat to the people.” He also wrote a children’s book, “The Plot Against the King,” telling through fantasy the story of the investigations into Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign’s possible ties to Russians....
In planning to remove Mr. Wray from atop the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, Mr. Trump would be echoing one of the most defining acts of his first term, his dismissal of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director as investigations of Trump associates began to heat up. That act led to the appointment of the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who spent nearly two years examining the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia....
ADDED:
Do you guys even understand how amazing this Kash appointment is?!
"I wanted Babar to live on (or, as some will say, my father to live on). I wanted to stay in his country, the elephant world which is both a utopia and a gentle satire on the society of men.... Babar and I both... take the same care to avoid over-dramatization of the events or situations that do arise. If we take the correct, efficient steps, we both believe that a happy end will come.... [T]here is a message in the Babar books, a message of nonviolence."
Babar was invented by Laurent de Brunhoff's mother, Cécile de Brunhoff. It was a bedtime story, told to Laurent when he was 5, and retold to his father, Jean de Brunhoff, who took the story further in words and drawings. Jean created the first 7 books, then died of tuberculosis at age 37. Laurent continued his father's world — the elephant world, where he wanted to stay.
The obituary links to a NYT book review from 40 years ago. The book is "What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Minds," which explains how "Babar's story is a lesson in colonialism with racist overtones." We're told: "[The author, Ariel] Dorfman explicates these episodes and stories at academic length. He even deciphers the racial and sexual symbolism of Zephyr the monkey and Silver the stallion. For authority, he cites such authors as Gyorgy Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci and Frantz Fanon, blending in the psychoanalytic leaven found in much Marxist writing."
Babar racist? It's an easy shot. The elephant is a big target.
Here he's talking about a children's book he spent about 5 minutes writing:
"Kids — they can be nice and stuff, but I don't think they're that bright.... It can't be that hard."
He says his parents never read to him when he was a child. Mine didn't either. Sedaris's parents put the kids to bed with "2 words: 'Shut up.'"
The book's illustrator is Ian Falconer, famous for the "Olivia" books, who died last year, as Sedaris mentions, in a set up to a remark that only he could make.
Falconer is quoted in his NYT obituary: "If I had to say one thing, it would be to not underestimate your audience. Children will figure things out; it’s what they do best — sorting out the world."
You know who did not underestimate his audience? David Sedaris, when he told that joke about Falconer on the late-night talk show.
The obituary links to a 2010 New Yorker article by Jill Lepore, "Too Much Information," which is about books for children that explain sex. That whole article is interesting, and the beginning is hilarious.
"... references to villains making victims 'slaves' have been removed and 'crazy' has been changed to 'silly.' In one of the novels, a character wearing a Halloween costume, dressed as 'a dark and stormy night,' no longer wears black face paint. Scholastic said that it had made the changes to 'keep the language current and avoid imagery that could negatively impact a young person’s view of themselves today, with a particular focus on mental health.'"
Stine — who cranked out 67 of these books and claimed he could write one in 6 days — tweeted: "I’ve never changed a word in Goosebumps. Any changes were never shown to me."
If you really cared about the "mental health" of children, you'd want them reading better things than the Goosebumps series. But I can see that Scholastic is keen to keep the old series from getting cancelled for seeming behind the times for repetitively calling its characters fat and crazy.
What is so frightening and subversive about a children’s book series featuring a flock of sheep? That is a question for Hong Kong authorities, who on Wednesday convicted the books’ creators on charges of sedition....
The picture books in question, written for children aged 4 to 7, depict sheep trying to protect their village from a pack of wolves. The series contained indirect references to social issues.... Even this implied criticism was too much for prosecutors, who claimed the books “indoctrinated” readers and disseminated “separatist” ideas.....
If there were any questions remaining about how far authorities will go to silence dissent, Wednesday’s conviction offers an ominous clue: Not even illustrated children’s books are safe.
Not even? I would think the literature given to children would be the first thing you would want to control. (It's something we fight about in America.) And if turning the characters into non-human animals got you off the hook for criminal charges, all the criminals would turn their characters into non-human animals.
The problem is the use of criminal law against political speech, and this isn't a distinctively Chinese idea:
Now, Hong Kong authorities appear to be weaponizing British-era sedition statutes to stifle criticism.
Oh! Imagine taking a statute that just happens to be on the books and enforcing it. But here in America, elite writers are deploying the word "sedition" and eyeing the sedition laws that we have on the books.
ADDED: The author of the June column "The sedition didn’t stop on Jan. 6. It must be stopped" and the first person on the list of "Members of the Editorial Board" — found at the bottom of the editorial about the Hong Kong sedition trial — are the same person: Karen Tumulty.
"Without the slightest hint of sexual or romantic attraction between the moms (not even a peck of a kiss) the book seems to say, 'Fear not, we’re just like you.'... Dr. Nathan N. Taylor, Ph.D., an assistant professor of education... said the story traffics in homonormativity.... The book 'allows some people to be a part of the American Dream — in this case, upper middle class, cis-gendered, partnered white women'... While we undoubtedly need to multiply the number and kinds of queer narratives in children’s literature, the value of 'Heather' to my daughter and family unit has been immeasurable.
A little before she turned 2, Marty, the only child of queer parents at her day care, began asking after her 'father' in various iterations. 'Who’s my daddy? Where’s my daddy? I want my daddy.' It was heartbreaking because my partner and I could only counter with, 'You have two mommies.' (How else to explain the complicated series of events that resulted in the creation of our family?)
That’s when I remembered we had a copy of 'Heather,' the 2015 version, sitting on our bookshelf where I’d left it a few years ago...."
This article was originally published April 17, 2020, but it is featured on the home page of the NYT right now, presumably because this Sunday is Father's Day.
"'DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.'"
"The men made homophobic and transphobic remarks against a member of the LGTBQ+ community who was hosting the event," [Alameda County Sheriff's Dept. Lt. Ray Kelly] wrote in an email. "There was no physical violence. Deputies responded to the disturbance and are conducting follow up to identify the group of men and their affiliation....We will initiate our hate crime protocol and will also address the annoying and harassing of children. More details to follow.... The men were reported to be members of the Proud Boys organization."
How does it happen that an author gets into the position of being "set to read" his book to a captive audience of children? There are thousands of authors who might want access to children. They can't all be sitting there in a little chair reading their book to a bunch of kids who've been forced to sit quietly at their feet and receive the ideas they've put into a book. You can love books and hate censorship and still want to carefully control what books are read to the children in your care!
The article begins "Jason Tharp wants to write books for weird kids...." He's written a book and, we're told:
I doubt if much of any great interest can happen at the confirmation hearing. The President has made his choice, and the Senate's role is going to be predictable theater (unless it isn't). But the NYT play by play coverage made me think that things got somewhat lively when Ted Cruz got his go at her:
ADDED: It continues — with the discussion of the children's book "Anti-Racist Baby." Cruz was challenging her statement that "Critical Race Theory" is not taught in schools. The book isn't teaching theory. It's a product of theory. I think they all know that's the distinction, but watch if you want to see the exquisite struggle:
ALSO: Even though Biden selected her only because she fell within the pool of possible candidates by being a black woman, I am uncomfortable with subjecting her to special questions premised on her status as a black woman. She is the nominee, and the President's basis for singling her out says nothing about her worthiness of confirmation. Presumably, there are hundreds or thousands of individuals who could have been nominated. It was the President's role to select one. Criticize him if you like. But she deserves exactly the same treatment that would have been given to any of those others, not some special black woman questioning.
"[Toby] Price told us that last week, he’d been asked to schedule a Zoom meeting for another school official to read to all the second grade classes. But she didn’t show up. After this, Price says, his boss asked him to do the reading.
So Price grabbed a nearby book which happened to be the tome on butts. Price said he has read this 'very silly, very funny' book to classes in the past without incident. 'After I read it, the principal called me into her office,' Price says, recounting that she warned him that parents were going to complain. Soon after, he says, he was placed on administrative leave while being investigated, and two days later he was informed that he’d be terminated.
As Price put it, he was told that 'choosing this book showed a lack of professional judgment, because it included the words 'butt' and 'fart,' and different examples of butts like a robot butt and a bulletproof butt.' 'Stuff like "Captain Underpants" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" talks about more suggestive things than this book does,' Price told us."
"The arrests, during which hooded suspects were led away by officials, came after three books, published by the General Association of Hong Kong Speech Therapists, described Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists as sheep who were protecting their village by fighting a pack of wolves.
Pro-Beijing newspapers and politicians have called the books an attempt to 'poison' the minds of children by promoting freedom from Beijing in the territory. A senior Hong Kong education official claimed that they had used fables to spread political propaganda.
The two men and three women arrested, who are aged between 25 and 28, are accused of 'inciting hatred among the public, especially small children, against the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong judiciary, inciting the use of violence, and encouraging disobedience of the law,' according to the police."
"They became ubiquitous, appearing on Hallmark cards, dolls and ceramics, as Anglund merchandise secured a prominent niche in the collectibles market... Ms. Anglund’s illustrations were particularly distinctive. While the adults in her drawings all displayed fully formed and expressive facial features, the children had none at all, save for those dots for eyes.
Ms. Anglund, who used her own children as models, said she had never made a conscious decision to omit her young characters’ mouths and noses. But over time, she said, she realized that unformed, untouched faces better evoked the innocence of childhood. 'I think perhaps I am trying to get down to the essence of a child,' she said, 'not drawing just a particular, realistic child, but instead I think I’m trying to capture the "feeling" of all children, of childhood itself, perhaps.'"
Anglund wrote the line "A bird doesn’t sing because he has an answer, he sings because he has a song" — which Maya Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” took to quoting.
It's my favorite thing about blogging, and today's occurrence was just about exactly perfect.
Following my normal approach to blogging, I found a NYT piece about Dolly Parton and wrote about her interest in the children's book "The Little Engine That Could." I said: "It's the book she wants all kids to read. I can't imagine a left-leaning person saying that."
3 posts later, I was writing about the deceased ex-CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, whose friend declared that he was like The Giving Tree. I didn't think that was quite right: "The Giving Tree was giving — sacrificing to provide the boy with benefits. Hsieh's sacrifices did not give anyone else anything but merely pared away from the person making the sacrifices."
These are 2 quite different children's books, but look. Shel Silverstein — author of "The Giving Tree" — wrote his own version of "The Little Engine That Could." I love when things come together like that.
You can read the text here, but he delivers a vivid reading:
Silverstein's engine goes through the same "I think I can" chant that works so well to convince kids they can achieve if they work hard and believe in themselves. You know, the right-wing ideology. The optimism. But Silverstein has a darker take. The 4th stanza inflicts reality:
He was almost there, when — CRASH! SMASH! BASH!
He slid down and mashed into engine hash
On the rocks below... which goes to show
If the track is tough and the hill is rough,
THINKING you can just ain’t enough!
AND: Less serendipitous but very interesting is this Eminem song that uses "The Little Engine That Could":
The writing is plainly brilliant, but it's very dark. Lyrics here. Key line: "I think I can, I think I can/I know I can, psycho I am."
This answer is amusing because she's so openly declining to answer the question in terms of setting up an excellent conversation:
First would be James Patterson because, since we are both in entertainment, we could write it off as a business expense. (Ha!) Second would be Fannie Flagg — she’s a friend and a very funny author, so I know she would be a guaranteed good time. Third would be Maya Angelou because she would definitely have wonderful stories and spoke and wrote so poetically. As a bonus, I’d ask Charles Dickens to join us — for the street cred.
Anyway, she names 4, not 3, and Patterson seems only to be there as part of a tax avoidance scheme. Does Dolly Parton ever let her political opinions show? She flaunts her resistance to taxation. That might be conservative. The other thing in that piece that strikes me as conservative is that she expresses — twice — her love of the book "The Little Engine That Could." It's the book she wants all kids to read. I can't imagine a left-leaning person saying that.
I've already read between the lines. A devoted promoter of the "The Little Engine That Could" must be conservative or libertarian. But let's read this:
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