Literacy alien Tala earns parents’ anger over use of pronouns - article in The Times

[oviraptor21]

Yet another example of the trans agenda being pushed on children who are far too young.
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/edec2f5e-4027-11ed-b24d-96120f17513d?shareToken=58fe369e03586016edf674cfc53c2b12

It's an attempt to normalise they/them as valid pronouns and thus normalise gender and pronoun ideology. We are witnessing the indoctrination of very young children and their families.

The explanation that 'it's just an alien so has no gender' is disingenious of course. The fact that this genderless alien is a they/them makes it all about the T. The they/them character is going to be pictured on kids' library cards and be used for branding.

Libraries are all about trans now. We no longer go, I'd never allow my older dc to pop into the library alone (my best childhood memories were browsing my local library by myself) but we can luckily afford to buy books, so that is what we do. People also might chose to have ad hoc communal 'libraries' and book swap schemes with local friends.

I hope Hertfordshire council will reconsider this move but won't hold my breath.

This is so weird! What was wrong with the original book start bear they have replaced? What were the bookstart bear’s pronouns? Did anyone even ask? Why does a cartoon picture even need a pronoun? So many questions….

Oh the sheer irony of a charity that exists to promote children’s literacy endorsing a grammatically incorrect use of pronouns, never mind the brainwashing element…thank goodness there are parents speaking out.

If Tala is indeed a genderless alien, Tala should be "it".
Tala's colouring is far too busy and is less likely to appeal to toddlers and babies than the more familiar and comforting bear shape and colour.
I can understand they wanted to change the blue bear, but not why they went for such a confusing mess of colours and shapes.

They did a lot of research when designing the Teletubbies. That's why, although brightly coloured, each Teletubby is a single block of colour and a particular shape.

It looks, to me, like it's got a shocked, open pink mouth and a double chin. It's eyes look crazy.

Why are there drops of water leaking from under it's hat? What's stuck to the end of it's limbs!?

Hertfordshire CC won a Stonewall gold award for its children's services recently childrensservicesnews.hertscc.gov.uk/july-2022/news-from-the-services/services-for-young-people-leads-the-way-in-lgbt-young-peoples-inclusion.

It's not a council known for willingness to spend on library services - a few years ago there were big redundancies, staff replaced by volunteers, and cuts to opening hours.

You've got to wonder what prompted them to spend public money on replacing the Bookstart branding, which is provided by a national charity with vast experience and expertise in improving children's literacy and encouraging children to enjoy books.

Bookstart themselves no longer use the bear, or supply libraries with material with the bear on. So presumably this is an attempt to replace the idea, given the bear will no longer be an option.

Ah, I see. My kids are older, so I'd assumed Bookstart was still doing this.

What are other council's doing? Is Tala the alien a national thing? It sounds (in the Times article) that Herts have created it themselves, when they talk about it being inspired by kids' drawings?

There's some good comment online about the replacement of the bear and cub logo, which was a parent or guardian helping its child, a maternal or paternal image, with the alien who presumably, though child-like, is travelling alone. It's noteworthy that the new character is also accompanied by certificates given to young children which use the word 'their' (to refer to the child) rather than 'her' or 'his'. Why not print certificates with 'her' or 'his' and give children the more personalised option? The choice of 'their' feels very loaded in both cases: we don't call a cat or a horse or gerbil of unknown sex they/them - we call it 'it'. If the thinking is that girls or boys won't identify with an opposite sex character, why not simply have two (or more) characters instead, which was what most children's books and early childhood TV shows of my generation had.

I am a parent who regularly watches TV shows with animated characters who aren't obviously girls or boys and I don't get what the issue is? Also can't find any reference on the library website to "they/them pronouns". I'd also say "they" for someone whose gender I don't know as a matter of course and didn't realise this was SHOCKING GENDER IDEOLOGY and INDOCTRINATION. Can anyone actually explain?

Apart from the obvious political overtones, how are you then supposed to teach small children the very basics of grammar?

This is a bit like, say, impressionist/abstract artists - you are only capable of creating impresionist works once you have mastered realism. i.e. the basics must come first.

Maybe it can run for PM once Liz goes. Seems to have the appropriate qualities.

Wrong thread? @BFOSdeeznutz ?

Oh sorry @BFOSdeeznutz I've re read.

They're saying Maya was wrong. But that they are using "gender neutral pronouns".

Right!

Singular 'they' has been around for hundreds of years. It's fine.

Agree with the rest of your post, though.

Right?? It’s an alien character. Claiming it’s promoting some kind of trans agenda (not a thing, btw) is truly clutching at straws.

Generally with an alien or other animal though it would be correct in the singular to call it it, not they.

Yes, of course. All those well known real life aliens are usually referred to as “it”.

Tala is a fictional gender-neutral alien who arrived on Earth to be a reading mascot for toddlers, as confirmed by the library itself. I really don't think there are any conspiracies going on. That's all there is to say IMO.

"though it would be correct in the singular to call it it, not they."

I know we sometimes call animals "it"(usually the ones we don't keep as pets or bond with) but Isn't "it" usually reserved for inanimate objects? We can't call cute Tala an "it" can we?

Aliens are called it