...but I'm sure most of you are familiar with the age-old "The Black person is always the first to die in movies" bit, right? Well apparently, this theory holds true in the world of children's literature as well! I was reading this book (Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman) about well, a class field trip to the zoo. The kids are noticing all the different animals in their cages, but they fail to see that this gigantic anaconda is rising out of the water and planning to devour all these little children one by one. I'm probably making it sound a little worse than it really is but the bottom line is, kids go on a field trip, kids get eaten by an anaconda. But that's not even the problem. The bigger issue here is that the first victim is none other than Kyle. Little brown, kinky-haired Kyle. Why? There are 9 other non-Black children in Class Two so why him? Terrible book. Why did I pick it you ask? For one, because I could read them the Declaration of Independence and they'd giggle jut the same. And two, because after all the effort it took to get the munchkins dressed, out of the house, into the car, into the library, apply for my library card (I know. What am I, 10 years old?) and maneuver the limo stroller to the kids section, I was too exhausted to actually hunt for the 'perfect' books. I just blindly ran my hand along the shelves and swiped up whatever books extended past the rest. Lesson learned.

2 comments

1. Anonymous on December 7, 2007 at 7:27 PM

   I think it 1s awful that Kyle was eaten,but he was probably standing behind all the other(noncolored)children!!!(hee hee)We should all boycott Julia Jarman`s books.Maybe you should give writing a whirl,you may suprise yourself and become a very rich lady.I think you would be awesome.

    
2. Anonymous on December 11, 2007 at 1:32 PM

   2Cr 13:1 This [is] the third [time] I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. (Bible Verse). She should give writing a whirl, and it has been confirmed through her high school english teacher, college english professor, her mother(which probably doesn't count),and now a blogger, so that still equals three. And as for Julia Jarman, I wouldn't recommend that her books even be used for dart boards.