The publisher’s co-founder, Wayne Bell
A St. Louis-based publishing company has caused an outrage by releasing a coloring book for children that teaches them about the horrors of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. Strangely enough, the Council on American and Islamic Relations (CAIR) seems to have a problem with it. [1] Why color Spongebob or Dora when you can teach your kids to color in the lines with horrific images of burning buildings and paranoia?, asks, Maria Guid, for Mommyish.com. [2] RT reports that Really Big Coloring Books has released the children’s book “The Terror Update on Global Jihad” as a supplement to their two previous books “We Shall Never Forget 9/11: Kids’ Book of Freedom” and “The True Faces of Evil Global Terrorism,” both of which caused quite a controversy as people claimed them to be anti-Muslim propaganda. And now, with the threat of the Islamic State growing in Syria and Iraq, Really Big Coloring Books is making headlines once again. The publisher’s co-founder, Wayne Bell, said the books are designed to help explain to children what is happening in the world today. [3] He justified the way the book present the subject saying that it “tells the truth,” and he doesn’t see anything wrong with presenting the issues to children in such a manner. [4] “Every day children, parents, teachers, educators hear the same exact news on TV,” he told RT. [5] The company said to the The Daily Mail that its books are aimed at children, but does advise adult supervision. Their spokesman, Mr Bell, said: ‘The reactions differ across the board – some love these books and some simply do not want them at all. ‘ [6] He goes deeper in the intent behind the book when interviewed by RT:
“What this book allows parents to do is to sit down with their child and explain to them exactly what’s going on. These are real images… these are real issues. The real horror here is the fact that there are terrorists that would murder you and everybody else in this country, because we do not believe in Allah.” [7]
The original, published in 2011, has sold in over 120 countries and even if they maybe shocking to some, the publisher claims that all of these books are profitable, [8] to the extent that the company reported to CBC that it had trouble keeping up with consumer demand for them. [9] The company, which publishes plenty of noncontroversial titles (including “Princes & Butterflies,” “Dinosaurs” and “U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz Comic Coloring and Activity Book”). Bell added that he has sent copies of these coloring books to the education departments of all 50 states, as well as the federal government, in an effort to convince them to add the books at part of the required curriculum. It doesn’t seem like he’s had much luck so far. [10] As for the presence of ISIS terrorists in the books, Bell had this to say:
We’re trying to educate the country on these animals, these brutal people, these terrible humans on the planet called ISIS. [11]
One of the most incredible illustration in the book depicts a man who’s been crucified and is captioned with the following words: “Beheading, murdering, cutting in half the bodies of innocent men, women and children – this is what ISIS [now the Islamic State] wants to bring to America and its people. What are you going to do when they come for you?” [12] Believe it or not, another scene in the book shows the five Taliban prisoners President Obama exchanged for Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl. Another page from a former book includes drawings of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, including a tyre mark over his face representing the fact that he was run over by his brother, Bradley Manning, and Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan. Another shows fish refusing to eat Osama Bin Laden’s “fowl smelling” body following his reported sea burial in 2011. There is also pictures of the four people killed in the controversial attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, which is an implicit attack on the Obama Administration’s handling of the incident. [13] RT asked Bell if he was afraid the images would provoke religious hatred since they said the pictures resembled millions of Muslims around the world. Bell argued that the images that children color are of real people, including the man who was crucified. He said:
“This is a real man that was hung in the street. All of the children that Friday afternoon had to go kick him in the tail… do you understand that? That man was crucified because he was Christian. This is a real man. This is on the United States website right now, the real image.” [14]
Three years ago, the communications director for CAIR expressed his outrage at the 9/11 themed book released by the publisher, claiming the book might lead kids to believe all Muslims were their enemies. Ibrahim Hooper said in the statement:
“America is full of these individuals and groups seeking to demonize Islam and marginalize Muslims and it’s just a fact of life in the post-9/11 era.” [15]
Bell, however, has defended the books, saying that the content is purely educational and is not at all about fear-mongering or bigotry. “The books are not about denigrating or maligning Muslims or the Islamic Faith. The books are about terror from where it originates,” Bell told The Huffington Post. “There is not a racial component to the books. … We do not cover race or religion, we do cover radicals of all backgrounds.” [16] Critics have since condemned these terrorism coloring books as racist, anti-Muslim propaganda, with some netizens even calling the books a form of “child abuse.” [17] Human rights groups have, meanwhile, described the anti-terrorist coloring books as not the best choice parents can make.[18] Bell said he’s received hate mail and death threats since the company started publishing coloring books from its so-called cultural event division.
“We recently even got a letter from the White House telling us they were not very happy with us teaching children the word ‘terror,'” Bell said. (The letter appears to be an email from a White House staffer.) [19]
However, Bell doesn’t seem to care, saying that since Americans “are not communists” parents can choose whether or not they would buy the book for their children. “You cannot determine what mothers and fathers will do in this country,” Bell said. [20] Perhaps if more of the so-called “moderate” Muslims were to speak out and denounce the violence committed by radical Islamists, rather than remaining silent and accusing those concerned of being Islamophobic, people wouldn’t make the assumption that all of Islam is evil.
“This is not about the Islamic faith, this is not about Muslim people,” he said. “This is about radical Islamic Muslim terrorist extremists, and we will not stop publishing these books.” [21]
According to Bell’s website, the coloring books will “open dialogue inside the Islamic community”:
This is not an easy subject or press release, this is difficult, these products are complicated and require adult supervision while addressing the murders of innocent Christian children, adults and also entire families at the hands of brutal animal terrorists. In an effort to explain and educate today’s youth about this hard core cultural subject the terrorist must be discussed with open dialogue inside the Islamic community. [22]
