Books to AVOID When Your Child Brings Home Book Order Forms From School

I’m extremely uncomfortable, as a parent, with the topics of some of the books our schools offer via order forms.  So from one parent to another, here are a few suggested books to avoid when you find one of those forms in your child’s backpack.

The first one I saw that makes my skin crawl is called Sister Apple, Sister Pig. Well that sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately the (very serious) topic this book deals with is abortion. It paints abortion in a positive light. It tells of a boy who is told that his aborted sister is still around him.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

Wow. I really can’t even say much about this. I’m speechless.

“Yes, daddy and mommy, I’m so happy you decided to murder my innocent sister because she would have been an inconvenience to you!”  Way to teach selfishness to the nth degree; and that’s the least of my worries with this trash.

Another interesting tidbit? The author is an assistant professor of art at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts. The book is supposed to be a jab at “white, evangelical…anti-choice people.”

Well done, assistant professor. You made us all look like the jerks.

Tell it to your “happy ghost,” and leave the kids out of it.

The second book you might not want to get for your young child is called “I Am Jazz.”

The story is about a child who claims to have a “girl’s brain in a boy’s body.” This book was recently read aloud to elementary students as a lesson about tolerating differences. According to the school, it’s never too early to start teaching children to respect differences in each other.

Yes, that is right, you can’t underestimate a child. But you can, as a parent, decide what your young child is exposed to. At least, you used to be able to.

A parent was very concerned about this lesson and reached out to the school who basically dismissed her concerns. She went to Shawn Hannity and the story went viral.

Allyn Hutton, superintendent of the district, finally responded to Hannity:

“I have spoken with the principal at Mitchell School who has been working with their guidance counselor to appropriately manage this situation and provide the appropriate information for the children at this age level,” Hutton said.
“All information has been posted on the school’s guidance blog for parent review.”

That blog, written by guidance counselor Dana Richerich, contends “some people may think primary school students are too young to worry about addressing issues surrounding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Not so, experts say. It’s never too early to begin teaching children about respecting differences.”

“The whole culture at Mitchell School is about teaching tolerance and respect. The people presenting the lesson thought (the book) was one more piece of teaching that lesson.”

“In retrospect, we understand that toleration is tolerating people of all opinions,” Hutton said.

Something people seem to forget these days is that teaching tolerance and respect works both ways.

And sometimes–as in this instance–things should be left to the ones who love and care about the children more than anyone at a school ever would:  The parents.

Parents with a different world view could certainly teach their children about LGBT issues with a loving, tolerant, Biblical perspective.

Message from author:  While the books in the article are very real, my earlier “tongue in cheek” reference to Scholastic could possibly have been taken seriously by some readers. When I think of book order forms I think of Scholastic as they have been a staple of elementary kids’ backpacks for years.

I am very pleased to tell you that Scholastic does not sell these books, promote these books or even ever plan to!

I apologize for the confusion and, once again, look forward to the day that someone will invent the “sarcasm” font. Everyone who knows me and my particular brand of humor knew that I was being facetious and I need to remember to take that in consideration in my writing.