Background Story: National Library Board withdraws two children's books which were not 'pro-family'
From: Ganga
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2014 11:30 AM
To: tay_ai_cheng[at]nlb.gov.sg
Subject: Please Remove 'Slovenly Kate and Other Stories' and 'Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog' from Circulation
Hi Ms Tay, I read with interest your most efficient action regarding two children’s books that did not measure up to the values of the National Library Board (namely, ‘And Tango Makes Three’ and ‘The White Swan Express’). I realised that there are actually countless number of books in the “collection of more than five million books” that need to be highlighted for their conflicting content, and would therefore like to highlight two so that your office may “review such books thoroughly and withdraw them from circulation” as well.
The first is ‘Slovenly Kate and Other Stories’ (ISBN 9780486490328) which obviously portrays abysmal judgement on the part of the child characters contained in the stories. In one story, children laugh at an untidy girl until she cries and in another, a cat scratches the face of a boy till he bleeds. Yet another tells the story of a young girl who is eventually mutilated on her face (Tell Tale Jenny). Surely, the NLB would not condone such acts of violence, and would not wish to be a party to the endorsement of such behaviour by children. I am therefore confident that you will find removing this book to be the appropriate recourse, just as you did for ‘And Tango Makes Three’ and ‘The White Swan Express’.
The second book is ‘Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog’ (ISBN 9781842709825) which discusses the impact of gluttony and laziness. Since the story portrays an unhealthy lifestyle and the characters do not actively try to correct their poor judgement, only to accidentally become healthier without deliberate positive action, this seriously conflicts with the Health Promotion Board’s – and even the government’s – mantra to lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Our precious young readers would be so easily swayed by the nonchalance of the characters portrayed that there would be a very real risk of them becoming non-productive citizens as adults – just as they might form non-traditional family units in their adulthood after being exposed to ‘And Tango Makes Three’ and ‘The White Swan Express’. Therefore, here again, it would be remiss of the board not to immediately remove this book from the libraries’ shelves.
I have the utmost confidence that the NLB will uphold its “cautious approach in identifying titles for our young visitors” and ensure only the ‘safest’ ones remain on the bookshelves, such as ‘Walter the Farting Dog’. I look forward to your favourable reply in about two days, then.
Ganga (Mr)
TRS Contributor