Burn Books With Unhappy Endings…To Protect The Children.
13 10 2007The Happy Ending Foundation are planning a series of Bad Book bonfires in October to protect kids from unhappiness. Parents will be encouraged to burn novels with “negative endings”.Parents plan to burn books to protect the children
Edit - October 13. Apparently this was a hoax. It was a very well done hoax done by the makers of Lemony Snicket, but very sneaky. It doesn’t make me predisposed to ever buy their books (don’t they know that hoaxes even if it’s called “PR” can backfire)? Nobody likes to feel foolish.
It’s rather annoying because I was taken in as well - royally… and spent time writing my view on… well rubbish. I’d rather have used it writing something real. But I can feel somewhat comforted that all the big newspapers were taken in as well. So I’m taking the story down before it does any more damage. Thanks to those of you who did comment. 
I’m apoplectic! Book burning, indeed?! There are so many responses and comments jostling in my head I can hardly type.
In a time when we need to be encouraging children to read they are arguably putting up barriers to literature.
In a time when there is more negativity and violence in the world, instead of spending time organising book burnings, they could help their children cope with life by reading age appropriate books with parental guidance / discussions showing that life isn’t always fair and rosey.
In a time when seemingly more and more people have no respect for the property of others (graffiti, theft, vandalism, etc) they are showing it’s perfectly ok to burn something as precious, beautiful and powerful as the written word.
Harrumph!
Wow! Just what we need… another watchdog group! Someone else or another group to make decisions on how all parents should raise their children. Literature is yet another form of art, and art holds a canvas to life. So, in effect, literature is another way for us to look at life. This parental group wants to basically shield kids from some of the ugly truths in life, thus lying to the children that life is always ducky!
This just made me sick… :O [bleah!]
What’s next, indeed. The next step could be no sad music allowed; only happy, good feeling music! If that happens, you’ll see me on the grassy knoll, loading the rounds! No one messes with my music!!
I say let them burn the books anyways… I’m being sarcastic in saying that, but think of all the CO2 released into the atmosphere, harming out planet more for the future of the children.
Ok, rant done…
apparently it is a hoax, but it was so well done and its so hard today to find what is real and what is not.
i wouldnt have been surprised if it wasnt a real organisation, but it is one made by the makers of lemony snickert books. everyone was fooled several papers, which shows the really disturbing sign of the times
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/the_happy_endings_foundation/
and there has been harry potter book burnings already. so only a small step, a frighteningly small step to it
I think so many papers were taken in because there really are organisations who ban all sorts of children’s books for reasons having to do with “safety”. My favourite teen novel, Robert Cormier’s brilliant “The Chocolate War” is egularly banned by school boards in America because he portrays a disturbing world where teachers and schoolboy thugs bully others in the private school. Hey, guess what, book banners? There are teachers who are bullies (and I even know some!) and banning a book doesn’t make that reality disappear. The book has an unhappy ending, unlike the film version, where things were cleaned up to make a Hollywood ending- I’m sure Robert Cormier regretted that sale, as it took the whole point of his story away and replaced it with nauseating saccharine.
You’ll be happy to know that a lot of children I teach get thoroughly peeved by this overprotection and the overall Disneyfication of the things they want to read. Such moves are often greeted by big eyerolls, much like their parents’ over-protectiveness in general. They resent it, big time, and aren’t even close to the innocent lambs their parents like to think they are. I often think, to paraphrase the Who, the kids are alright- it’s their parents who need a clue.
And finally, I thought of you while reading the Globe & Mail this morning- Karen Von Hahn had a fairly amusing piece where she criticised Maier’s piece about regretting having children- tongue-in-cheek of course. She offered up the real reason people have kids- to program the DVD/VCR and other technologies older adults can’t figure out. I guess working the farm has been replaced by working the remotes.
I saw this post after your edit, Britgirl. I read the beginning of the article you linked to.
Ok.. hrm… I like Lemony Snicket. I had actually started reading those books because it’s like, FOR ONCE there are children’s books that aren’t all syrupy happy sweet. And I wish they had his series of books when I was a kid. Instead, I ended up reading horror stories.
Anne-Marie, I have a huge extended family. My mom was 3rd child of 10 kids. Many of her siblings have large families. She was the only one to have an only child, me. Anyway… we joke around about how the only reason any of us have children is to fetch the remote and get us a beer. ha! Yes, the little ones are used well to fetch.