So someone help me here.
A gift to a child about 9 or so was returned to me. it was a copy of the first two TPs of Jeff Smith’s Bone. The reasons?
1. Too much use of contractions in the dialog.
Okay, I can see, as a tool teaching reading, there might be some problems with that. I wouldn’t necessarily use Bone as a formal reading text — though as something that kids would find joy in reading, that I can see, and I’ll bet those contractions would be easily enough figured out. Still, if you want to be strict about the material you’d give to your child, sure.
2. It relies on racial humor.
Huh? Huh?
Alas, the circumstances in which this was told me did not allow for further inquiry. I was, frankly, so taken aback that, even if I had been at the top of my form, I probably would have just babbled some incoherent apology-no-problem-sure-thing-sorry-’bout-that, as I sort of think I did.
I was aghast for a while, then bewildered, then furious, then back to bewildered.
I really cannot figure it out.
I mean, this is an award-winning, nigh-on-universally acclaimed comic book. The back covers of the two issues show it as an American Library Association Book Choice, and include kudos from Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, and Matt Groening. The Amazon reviews are 5-star. I’ve Googled the appropriate search strings, and have come up dry. I can’t find anyone who’s had that impression before.
I’m really stumped.
Is the individual involved somehow misconstruing the cartoony Bone cousins as some sort of odd racist stereotype drawing? Is it racist to call Rat Creatures “stupid, stupid?” Is it the dragons? What?
Frankly, I’ve no real desire to pursue it further with the individual involved, since such debates seem largely fruitless, and imply that I’m either clueless, or calling the other person that, or, indeed, that I’m some sort of crypto-racist. Which prospect just sends me back to aghast-bewildered-furious-bewildered again.
If any of my gentle readers have any clue where this is coming from, I welcome any input.
Ponderous man, Ponderous…
Now you made ME want to read it… and share it with my grandkids! 😉 Happy New Year.
I think there’s a rap artist called “Boney M.” Maybe this person is a fan and thought the book was making fun of him. (Seriously, I looked at the Amazon site and I don’t get it either.)
I mean, I’ve read these things. Never crossed my mind. I went back and re-read them. No clue.
The only real stretch I can think of is that (a) Phoney Bone (who has a big schnozz, as do all the Bone cousins) is a greedy cuss, and (b) he has a star — a five-pointed one — on his shirt (which plays into a later prophecy).
So is it possible that this was mistaken for a 6-pointed Mogen David and greedy Phoney Bone was seen as a Jewish stereotype?
Stranger things have happened, I suppose …