Beloved children's book author and artist Eric Carle dies at 91
Eric Carle, author and artist of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and more than 70 other children's books, passed away this week at the age of 91.
What are the details?
NPR reported that Carle's family said in a statement that the author "passed away peacefully surrounded by family members on May 23, 2021 at his summer studio in Northampton, Massachusetts."
The outlet noted that Carle was nearly 40 years old before he began his famous life's work of illustration and writing, and he was inspired by his childhood memories walking through nature with his father.
Carle was born in New York, but returned to Germany with his immigrant parents prior to World War II.
During that time, NPR reported:
Carle was beaten by teachers and shot at by soldiers, and his beloved father disappeared into a Russian prisoner-of-war camp for years after being drafted to fight for the Nazis. The man who wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar experienced hunger firsthand.
Upon Carle's return to the U.S. at the age of 23, he began working for The New York Times.
The New York Times reported that "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" has "sold more than 55 million copies around the world since it was first published in 1969, its mere 224 words translated into more than 70 languages."
"I didn't think it was going to be an extraordinary book," Carle told Entertainment Weekly in 1994, as the book turned 25. "But children love it. Caterpillar reassures young kids that 'you scrawny, ugly little thing will grow up and fly and display your talent and beauty."'
Other famous books of Carle's include "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and "The Very Busy Spider."
VIDEO: Woman has little boy read 'The GayBCs' — a children's book with terms like 'bi,' 'coming out,' and 'queer.' And the reaction is swift.
A video of a woman having a little boy read from "The GayBCs" — a children's book that uses letters of the alphabet to introduce readers as young as 4 years old to LGBTQ words — has been making quite a stir on social media.
What are the details?
The video begins with the little boy reading aloud the word for letter A: "ally." Then the woman with him is heard introducing the rest of the letters, beginning with "B is for" — and the tyke answers "bi."
While some of the words don't possess immediate LGBTQ connotations — H is for "hope" and M is for "mountain," for instance — others like "bi" hit right at the heart of it. And little boy with his cute little-boy voice reads all of them:
- C is for "coming out."
- D is for "drag."
- G is for "gay."
- I is for "intersex."
- L is for "lesbian."
- N is for "non-binary."
- O is for "orientation."
- Q is for "queer."
- T is for "trans."
As you might expect, some folks wondered why a kid so young was being introduced to such words:
The 'progressive alphabet' for the next generation. God help us! https://t.co/h7wPt6jdDN— Dianne 🏴 (@Dianne 🏴)1614549701.0
"The 'progressive alphabet' for the next generation," the Twitter commenter said. "God help us!"
Others seemed just as disturbed:
- "iight folks, it's been real but I'm done with this planet," another commenter wrote in reaction to the clip. "Taking the next Elon Musk spaceship to Mars so we can start over."
- "What the actual f***," another user declared.
- "Why is this necessary?" yet another commenter asked.
- "I'm gay & ... KIDS SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT ABOUT SEX. PERIOD," another user noted. "Doesn't matter if it makes YOU feel better. Is P for pedo? S for sodomy? I'd object to a kid learning an alphabet of diseases, too. It's called preserving innocence."
- "My 6 year old reads at a 3rd grade level and does not know half of these words by design," another commenter said. "This is full-on abuse. But those of us that do not perpetuate degeneracy can still do our jobs. Pull your kids. Vet their social circle. It's the very least you can do."
But not everyone was upset
As you might imagine, others were fully supportive of the little boy being introduced to LGBTQ words:
- "I don't get what homophobic people find so toxic with videos like this," one commenter said before mocking detractors. "Wow the child is probably gonna grow up to be respectful that people can be different in many ways; omg I can't believe it, this is brainwashing!!"
- "In the past if you read an ABCs book, it might've had B for boy with the color blue and G for girl with the color pink, until you associate the color with the gender," another user noted. "Familiarizing children with gay, trans, and non-binary things is the exact same thing. That isn't brainwashing."
- "It's teaching kids that other people and minorities exist," another commenter wrote. "Trying to imply this is wrong is only implying that children should only grow up to misunderstand and be ignorant of other lifestyles ... perpetuates a problem; that is what we already have with ppl misunderstanding us."
There's more on the pages
The below video shows a woman reading each page of "The GayBCs" — and there's more text below the introductory lines noted above.
For instance, after "B is for 'bi'" the text reads, "You can shout it out loud. I like boys and girls, and that makes me proud." After "G is for 'gay'" the text reads, "It's word that implies you're a girl who likes girls or a guy who likes guys." And after "L is for 'lesbian'" the text reads, "It's love and affection between two special girls who share a connection."
The GayBCsyoutu.be
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