Levar Burton: Yep That book is pretty bad kids, and you know what? There are plenty more examples of controversial children's literature out there at your local library or bookstore...but don't take my word for it.
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The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business
As Beavis would say: heh heh heh heh heh heh "poop" heh heh heh heh heh heh.
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Visiting Day
From Publishers Weekly:
This poignant picture book chronicles a joyful girl narrator's hard-to-bear anticipation and special preparations for a journey with her grandmother to see her father. Both text and artwork keep the destination a mystery, wisely focusing instead on the excitement of the upcoming reunion. As Woodson's (The Other Side) rhythmic prose, punctuated by the refrain ("only on visiting day"), builds a sense of expectation, Ransome (Satchel Paige), too, underscores the build-up. Wordless spreads depict Grandma fixing the narrator's hair and the pair climbing aboard the bus. Meanwhile, the girl imagines her father making his own preparations. Ransome portrays a handsome man in khaki shirt and slacks; a calendar on the wall marks the days to his daughter's visit, hanging next to her artwork accented with red hearts. Ultimately, "the bus pulls up in front of a big old building where, as Grandma puts it, Daddy is doing a little time." Ransome shows barbed-wire atop high walls and a guard tower in stern relief against a perfect blue sky. Throughout, he uses a radiant, rich, marine blue (the bus's accents, the girl's dress and a prison guard's uniform) to contrast freedom and captivity. Told completely from a child's perspective, the narrative makes no judgment about what Daddy did or why he's incarcerated. A shared feeling of hope and family togetherness pervades each spread, from Grandma cooking fried chicken in the morning for the bus ride, to the narrator sitting down with crayons when she gets home to make Daddy more pictures. Any child who has been separated from a loved one can identify with the feelings of this winning heroine.
Yay, lets go to prison....Yay, lets move on shall we.
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Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!
Book Description
This full-color illustrated book is a fun way for parents to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. Written in simple text, readers can follow along with Tommy and Lou as they open a lemonade stand to earn money for a swing set. But when liberals start demanding that Tommy and Lou pay half their money in taxes, take down their picture of Jesus, and serve broccoli with every glass of lemonade, the young brothers experience the downside to living in Liberaland.
Yes, this book appears to be legit and while I think it may be some kind of wierd counter culture political satire, the fact that this was found in the children's section may have shoot down that claim and really that's all I can say without sounding too political about it. (Let me put on my MODhat for a moment) And I hope you all follow suit, talk about the lameness of a political propagnada book for kids, and not about which party is doing the propaganding, thanks.
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Walter the Farting Dog
From Publishers Weekly
Here's a companion to Taro Gomi's Everyone Poops, albeit with less educational value. Walter, a fat gray dog with an apologetic look on his face, comes home from the pound with two children. He has incurable gas, and his family decides to take him back. The night before he is to go, Walter sadly devours "the 25-pound bag of low-fart dog biscuits the vet had prescribed for him, which had made him fart more.... A gigantic gas bubble began to build inside him." Wouldn't you know, two burglars break in, and Walter's liability becomes his asset. Predictable stuff, but Kotzwinkle (Trouble in Bugland) and education writer Murray know their audience. Their simple strategy just keep saying "fart" should have children rolling in the aisles during read-aloud. Newcomer Colman likewise fixates on one visual gag, Walter with steam blasting out his backside. Unlike Babette Cole, whose Dr. Dog takes a mock-scientific approach to digestion, Colman specializes in reaction shots; in her surreal collages of photos and patterns, people hold their noses and a cat glances at the culprit. Yes, this lowbrow endeavor could be a crowd-pleaser but, like its topic, its disruptive effects will tend to linger.
The less said about this one the better.....
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Levar Burton: Wow that was great wasn't it? Well that's all the time we have today kids, see you next time.
Singers:
Butterfly in the sky...I can go twice as high...take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow (reading rainbow)
Thanks to Amazon and Publishers Weekly for the synopsis' and cover art and thanks to Levar Burton, PBS and support of viewers like you for the inspiration for this gag.