This was brought to my attention over at www.vivirlatino.com (yes, that's blood and corpses on that pyramid!)
Scholastic is promoting their Horrible Histories Book Series for classroom use. Now I understand trying to promote reading through the use of gross graphics and cartoonish depictions in an attempt to engage kids, but honestly do Latinos and other foreign groups really need children having these depictions encrypted into their little heads at school.
Some of the titles include:
The Woeful Second World War
The Smashing Saxons
The Ruthless Romans
Barmy British
The Incredible Incas
The Stormin' Normans
The Terrible Tudors
The Frightful First World War
The Groovy Greeks
The Slimy Stuarts
The Measly Middle Ages
The Cut-Throat Celts
The Angry Aztecs
The Gorgeous Georgians
The Awesome Egyptians
The Terrible Tudors
The Vile Victorians
The Rotten Romans
The Vicious Vikings
The Blitzed Brits
The Savage Stone Age
The Villainous Victorians
The Awful Egyptians
Scholastic is promoting their Horrible Histories Book Series for classroom use. Now I understand trying to promote reading through the use of gross graphics and cartoonish depictions in an attempt to engage kids, but honestly do Latinos and other foreign groups really need children having these depictions encrypted into their little heads at school.
Some of the titles include:
The Woeful Second World War
The Smashing Saxons
The Ruthless Romans
Barmy British
The Incredible Incas
The Stormin' Normans
The Terrible Tudors
The Frightful First World War
The Groovy Greeks
The Slimy Stuarts
The Measly Middle Ages
The Cut-Throat Celts
The Angry Aztecs
The Gorgeous Georgians
The Awesome Egyptians
The Terrible Tudors
The Vile Victorians
The Rotten Romans
The Vicious Vikings
The Blitzed Brits
The Savage Stone Age
The Villainous Victorians
The Awful Egyptians
From the Scholastic site:
Histories: The Angry Aztecs by Terry Deary
Find out about powerful priests, weird warriors, and the cunning Conquistadors, in this book which provides the foulest facts about Motecuhzoma, Cuahtemoc and other Angry Aztecs whose idea of fun was ripping out human hearts. Part of a series of books about history with the nasty bits left in!
Find out about powerful priests, weird warriors, and the cunning Conquistadors, in this book which provides the foulest facts about Motecuhzoma, Cuahtemoc and other Angry Aztecs whose idea of fun was ripping out human hearts. Part of a series of books about history with the nasty bits left in!
View product here:
http://www.amazon.com
and they even have a sticker book, Angry Aztecs Sticker Book:
http://www.amazon.com
I will be writing to Scholastic about this, and how our children might feel reading such biased books. I suggest you do to:
Scholastic
Worldwide Headquarters & Editorial Office
557 Broadway
New York, New York 10012
news@scholastic.com
Author contact:
terrydeary@btconnect.com
mailto:terrydeary@btconnect.com
Posts
I found you via your comment about this on VL.
ReplyDeleteThis series looks absolutely atrocious. I can't believe that Scholastic put this out.
I know and apparently, it's been around since 1997.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that we should ban all learning resources from our classrooms? I mean, you get more graphic descriptions on the internet and in encyclopedias. Truly, no child in their right mind would even think about doing those things. Plus, they’re a great way for kids to learn without getting bored out of their minds. But, of course, that’s just my opinion, and I don’t expect you to agree with me. That’s to say that you are entitled to your own opinion, as am I.
ReplyDeleteOh for God's sake grow up and find something else to do with your lives.
ReplyDeleteThe Aztecs DID engage in human sacrifice in the manner depicted on the front cover of The Angry Aztecs. There is nothing inaccurate there. If you read the book you will see it covers other aspects of Aztec culture, not just the brutal parts, although the Horrible Histories series does tend to focus on the sensational.
The fact that you and some others do not wish people to be insulted does not change the fact that, throughout history, humanity has been violent and murderous. This applies to the majority of cultures and should not be suppressed simply for fear of children linking modern-day Mexicans with the human sacrifice of centuries ago. The cover of The Angry Aztecs shows a culture that no longer exists, and does not depict it inaccurately. I fail to see how you can complain, unless you wish to ban all depictions of bad things done in history, for fear of upsetting currently living people.
Out of interest, do you worry that white Europeans will be offended by the "Rotten" Romans, the "Cut-Throat" Celts (again showing human sacrifice), the depiction of Saxons and Vikings as invaders, the "Cruel Britannia" comment on the cover of The Barmy British Empire?