Usbourne publishing calling mums transphobes

[Abite]

Go woke go broke

Someone posted a link to this on the twitter thread.
www.peaktrans.org/not-woke-my-experience-as-the-child-of-a-trans-individual/

I've read the link and the comments - very few and yes are some are questioning the book and its premise. But certainly no trolling.

Who is this book for?

I can't see a mum, married to a middle-aged transitioner, buying it for their children.

And why would you buy it if someone isn't involved in transitioning?

Is this book supposed to be a counter effort to the one transgender trend promote?

From that thread it's mainly school librarians.

I used to hate usbourne turning up at random playgroup when mins were little. The brokest time of your life and yet another opportunity have stuff you can't afford pointed out to you.

I also work in the children’s book world. Usborne aren’t on the skids and neither are children’s books! I think some of Usborne’s non-fiction books are absolutely great. Are they MLM led because all book sellers across the country stock them?

The book looks crap though, I wouldn’t stock it.

always felt sorry for mums who were selling the books. They surely can’t make much money from it.

Well usborne can fuck off, can't they? Another example of a business alienating their core buyers in pursuit of woke points.

Idiots.

I'm as GC as the next person, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a book supporting children with a trans parent.

From the blurb though, this sounds more like its about a child supporting their trans parent. She's a 'shy' child but has to 'find her voice' and 'face her fears' not to benefit herself but in order to protect and validate the feelings her father? Just... No.

A female child having to put in lots of work in order to protect the feelings of her male parent is really quite misogynistic and sends the message that the feelings of adult males take priority over the feelings of children. Which can actually be a very dangerous message and is a message used by groomers and abusers all the time.

I admit I haven't read the book so I don't know how the story goes, but that synopsis does not fill me with hope

but I don't see an issue with supporting people to live their best lives, either.

Children should not be supporting adults to 'live their best lives'. That is not the responsibility of a child.

OldCrone that story is shocking. Absolutely shocking.

Pity. I enjoy their Look inside books.
Also the "what's happening to me?" books about puberty. I'll have to find DS1's copy and see if there's reference to transgender in it.

@CallofDoodee yeah, absolutely agree. I commented again when I saw that point made. Again, not read the book, so don't know and can't comment, but my view is: if this is a book for a child to support them in managing a complex family situation, and the social implications for them, then that's excellent. If it's a book training a child to cater to a parent's own needs, that's straightforwardly emotionally abusive.

I could be wrong, but I think they are MLM led because they expect Mums to sell them to other Mums.

Another avid book purchaser turned off here.

'Wildly important', says Usborne on that tweet. Wildly? Does that not sound just a teeny bit desperate?

Are they manufacturing outrage to try and shift a shitty book?

I like Usborne books, good quality bindings, nice illustrations. (I buy a LOT of books.) The premise of this one sounds quite worrying, though. And I wasn't aware of the MLM aspect, at all! Hm.

I believe in publishing freedom and don’t have any issue with the book being published.

I do have an issue with their comment about “transphobic trolls” and wont buy their books again. My toddler loves the “that’s not my...” series and I’m always buying them for children’s birthdays. What a shame.

It's a shame because I have bought a few Usborne non fiction books previously which have been great but I won't be supporting them any further.

• I apologise for implying the book was shitty, I don't mean that it is. I haven't read it. I just meant that it seemed a bit OTT to call it wildly important, but that is what marketeers do, I suppose.

Aaand that's the last usborne book I'll be buying.

I've always been a bit dubious about Usborne since a friend got sucked into selling them, years ago.

She ran herself ragged, thoroughly pissed off her entire friendship group because of her constant nagging us to buy the bloody books, & ended up making about 26p by the time she called it quits.

I mean, I've never been bothered enough by it to boycott, I just warned off anyone I knew who was tempted to start selling them.

This would definitely have me actively avoiding them, though.

It’s not about which parent's "transitioning". Nor is it about "transitioning". The objection is that the book valorises children taking on the responsibility for parents. That's anti-safeguarding and perilously close to grooming.

Lang, and others criticising the book’s content: Have you read the book? Like, all the way through?

If not, it seems really unreasonable to make such definite statements about what the books message is, and go so far as to call it grooming!

Oh crap. I spend about £200+ a year on Usborne books for my daughter, family, colleagues and friends. I don't have a view on this particular book as I've not read it but if Usborne is publically calling gender non-conformists transphobic they won't be getting any more money or praise from me. I am raising my daughter to reject gender stereotypes and won't support any business that is openly rude about this belief.

Behaviour is on a spectrum. Behaviours that are not intended to be abusive can be perilously close to abusive.
Safeguarding means we avoid those behaviours, whatever our intentions.