Insert punny headline here.
From The Telegraph:
Julia Donaldson, the former children’s laureate, has been criticised by angry parents after her latest picture book featured a character smoking, with reviewers calling it “inappropriate”, “uncomfortable” and “disgusting”.
Donaldson’s latest book, The Scarecrows' Wedding, features a self-proclaimed “dashing” scarecrow who blows smoke rings with a cigar to impress his intended beau.
Said scarecrow is A) the bad guy, B) coughs on the smoke, C) sets a bunch of hay on fire, and D) is told flat-out that "smoking is bad for you", but people are up in arms about the book and some have even demanded that it be removed from sale simply for DEPICTING smoking. Which seems silly to me, as it seems clear that the book not only DOESN'T glorify an unhealthy/dangerous behavior, but it goes a step further and makes it ridiculous. Also, avoiding uncomfortable topics doesn't make them disappear, but it does make it that much harder on kids who have questions.
Is this the sort of brouhaha that HarperCollins was trying to avoid by removing Clement Hurd's cigarette all those years ago?