Matt Walsh - Johnny the Walrus

[TheHeartGoesLast]

I wondered what everyone thought about this? It's a book about a boy who identifies as a walrus and his Mum decides he is a walrus. I have watched his read through and personally I wouldn't read it to my kids, but I guess that's not the point, it's very much a political thing. Seemed like a very heavy handed way of making the point to me. It already appears to have been banned on Amazon!

I've just watched his reading on YouTube and I agree with you. It's funny and clever but I wouldn't read it to young children. Too much of it would go over their heads (bigots, mean internet people on phones, etc) and I don't think that explaining those things would be appropriate for the age group picture books are aimed at.

'You're not X just because you say you are' is obvious to young children, anyway. It's social pressure that changes that later.

It's not at all appropriate for a children's book and Matt Walsh is not someone I'd want on my side.

Give me Rachel Rooney any day

I have watched his read through and personally I wouldn't read it to my kids, but I guess that's not the point, it's very much a political thing. Seemed like a very heavy handed way of making the point to me. It already appears to have been banned on Amazon!

Haven't watched the read-through, but "heavy-handed" describes Walsh in general.

Can't say I'm particularly interested in giving Walsh any of my money. Walsh happens to be aware that water is wet, and that you can't change species, and that mammals can't change sex and doesn't see any political mileage in denying material reality.

He's far from a feminist though.

No it hasn’t been banned on Amazon, in fact the book has reached no. 1 in the LGBT category, believe it or not! Now, U.K. Amazon has listed it too, albeit for a March 2022 release. The book is funny and clever, and I don’t think it’ll go over any child’s head. Sure, they won’t get the transgender analogy, but all children identify with these wild ideas of becoming a lion, tiger, bird, super hero or something else. So they’ll have no problem going along with this story book and enjoying it.

The main thing I noticed was that his interaction with the children was very very poor. He seem to be speaking down to them, and had no rapport. His reading of the book was very pedestrian. A good reader is able to involve most children, and generally have them understand what is being read to them.

Obviously there are limitations. The world's best reader would probably not be able to enthuse four-year-olds about "War and peace."

I'm sorry, that might seem like a derailment of the thread, and has nothing to do with the topic under discussion, but that is the main thing I felt about it. Story readings like that are probably worse than nothing, and will not get the point across.

@SCO19

No it hasn’t been banned on Amazon, in fact the book has reached no. 1 in the LGBT category, believe it or not! Now, U.K. Amazon has listed it too, albeit for a March 2022 release. The book is funny and clever, and I don’t think it’ll go over any child’s head. Sure, they won’t get the transgender analogy, but all children identify with these wild ideas of becoming a lion, tiger, bird, super hero or something else. So they’ll have no problem going along with this story book and enjoying it.

Hi Matt (or Matt's publicist)!

@GreenWhiteViolet
No, it’s someone with a different opinion to yours - as difficult as that might be for you to believe.

It wasn't the opinion that made me think it! It was the writing style.