Children’s author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett has responded to the online controversy caused by an excerpt from his recently published book for adults Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children. He writes in the book, “I have a nagging fear that children’s literature suffers from a slightly higher crud percentage than literature as a whole…maybe more like 94.7 percent of kids’ books are crud.” Since the book was published on Tuesday, authors and readers in the kidlit community have compared him to pro-book banning organizations and called for him to resign from his ambassadorship. Author […]
Controversies
Harper UK Drops David Walliams Following Allegations, Investigation in 2024
Harper Collins UK has decided not to publish any more books by bestselling children’s author David Walliams, the Telegraph reports, apparently in reaction to an investigation by the newspaper. The Telegraph says its efforts began following “allegations of inappropriate behavior by Walliams last year.” The company launched its own investigation into Walliams last year after claims that he had “harassed” junior female staff at the publisher. “After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams. The author is aware of this decision,” a Harper UK […]
Publisher Condemns Hegseth’s Children’s Book Appropriation
Kids Can Press, the Canadian children’s publisher of the Franklin the Turtle series, responded to a social media post from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that depicted the turtle shooting at drug boats. On Sunday, Hegseth posted an image on his personal X account that appropriates the popular Franklin the Turtle book series by Paulette Bourgeois. Hegseth’s image looks like the cover of “A Classic Franklin Story” with the title “Franklin the Turtle Targets Narco Terrorists” and an illustrated image of Franklin shooting at boats with a bazooka. The post has the caption, “For your Christmas wish list…” On Monday, […]
Penguin Says It Did Its Due Diligence On ‘The Salt Path’
Further to Monday’s story about fraud accusations against Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir The Salt Path, Penguin commented that they undertook “all the necessary pre-publication due diligence.” They also said they had not received “any concerns about the book’s content” before The Observer investigation. The Observer piece alleges that the book contains substantial fabrication, and omits that Winn embezzled from her employer and was involved in a fraudulent money raising scheme, among many other accusations. The publisher’s full statement to BBC News reads: “Penguin (Michael Joseph) published the Salt Path in 2018 and, like many readers, we were moved and inspired […]
Some Authors Leave VBK In Protest
In the Netherlands, some authors have decided to leave Dutch publisher VBK in protest of parent company KKR, NL Times reports. KKR has owned Simon & Schuster since 2023 and S&S purchased VBK last year. KKR invests in German publisher Axel Springer, which owns the Israeli classified site Yad2, which hosts real estate listings in occupied Palestinian territory. Protestors have also accused KKR of involvement with other Israeli businesses and defense companies that supply Israel. Author Dirk Wanrooij and other VBK authors are asking the publisher to speak out against the private equity company. “The publisher is hiding behind: ‘we have […]
David Walliams Gives Nazi Salute at TV Recording
Bestselling British children’s author and actor David Walliams did a Nazi salute twice at a taping of a Christmas comedy special, the Times reports. During a taping of Would I Lie To You?, a panel member shared an anecdote about spraining her wrist from waving. Walliams “joined in with increasingly vigorous waves, culminating in him holding his arm out in a Nazi salute.” The host of the show “reprimanded” Walliams, but he made the gesture again, “embellishing it with a sexual twist.” The BBC and the show’s production company, Zeppotron, said that the footage will never air. “Any attempt at […]