|
 Pilkey, author of more than 40
books, said "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk:
Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future," first
published in 2010, would be pulled from retail
and library shelves.
"I hope you, my readers, will forgive me, and
learn from my mistakes that even unintentional
and passive stereotypes and racism is harmful to
everyone," said Pilkey, 55, in a statement on
YouTube on March 26.
The graphic novel about a group of friends who
save the world using kung fu actually was
"intended to showcase diversity, equality and
non-violent conflict resolution" but it
ultimately backfired, he said.
"It was brought to my attention that this book
also contains harmful racial stereotypes and
passively racist imagery," Pilkey said. "It was
and is wrong and harmful to my Asian readers,
friends, and family, and to all Asian people."
The move came during national soul-searching
over anti-Asian harassment and violence that
followed the killing of eight people, including
six Asian women, at Atlanta-area day spas.
The decision to pull the book followed the
removed this month of a handful of titles
written decades ago by Dr. Seuss. The books were
found to contain racist and insensitive imagery.
[to top of second column]
|
 With Pilkey's "full support,"
Scholastic said it halted publication on March
22, removed the book from its websites, stopped
fulfillment of any outstanding orders and sought
a return of all inventory, including from
schools and libraries.
"Together, we recognize that this book
perpetuates passive racism," Scholastic said in
a statement. "We are deeply sorry for this
serious mistake."
Pilkey has said that his own disruptive behavior
as a child led him to create his own comic
books. He later achieved international
recognition with his "Captain Underpants"
series, which was adapted as a film.
The "Captain Underpants" books are among the
American Library Association's list of the top
100 most banned and challenged books from the
past decade, due to complaints from parents
about violent imagery.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by
Alistair Bell)
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