This might be something useful here to say beyond the book - perhaps about the importance of fostering a critical consumption of knowledge - something which this thread demonstrates is wonderfully alive and well, here, which is great. But it’s not alive everywhere.
Also, small children aren’t critical consumers of knowledge - I’m not an early years specialist, but I suspect the ones I know would argue that children are natural consumers of knowledge but not particularly critical ones. And if there’s a parent out there moderating, then that’s maybe okay. But what if there isn’t? What if you’re a child from a family which thinks cultural stereotyping/racism is acceptable? What if you’re a child from a Pan-Asian background who is in a nursery which has this book on its shelves?
I don’t have a perspective on this particular book, or enough knowledge to comment on the particular. I guess I just don’t care enough about this book or the author to challenge what appears to be a fairly standard business-decision type decision to withdraw certain volumes. What might be important in terms of any argument about banning is that they remain in archives etc, and I suspect that these books have not been removed from these. Which means that people can access the text, even if they can’t buy them in the local bookshop.
I dunno, too, but I always look at who I am when I think about things like this. I’m a white Englishwoman. I don’t end up in the back line of the privilege walk (and yes, I know that that is a flawed measure) but I don’t end up at the front, either. But in many ways, I just am not able to comment, because I’m not going to be hurt by those images - others’ might be, though, so it’s about taking that into account, too, for me, maybe.
Taking our self-reflexive positions into account. And trying to see where they sit in a wider continuum rather than how they sit with our preconceptions of ourselves?
But anyway, for me it's so, so good to read a critical conversation about this, and I hope you don't mind my joining in, to some extent.
Sarah-Jane
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