Author/illustrator of 'Grandads Pride' chosen as artist for the Summer Reading Challenge

[RolledDahl]

Anyone here work in a Library?
For those of you who don't, you may know that every summer we promote the Summer Reading Challenge from the Reading Agency. It's a lovely way to encourage children to keep reading over the summer holidays.

This year the Reading Agency have chosen Harry Woodgate as the illustrator - he is the author of the controversial book Grandad's Pride, which included images of fetish wear...many of you may remember the concerns over some of his illustrations.

I shouldn't be surprised, knowing how captured the literary (& library) arena is in general, but it does seem to be a very deliberate decision.
And I'm not entirely convinced that his use of baby blue and pink as predominant background colours in the posters was completely accidental 😒

Believe me, my comments are among the least shocking on this thread.

I’ve worked with maps all my life. They don’t say ‘MAP’ on them in the way that has been illustrated.

HTH

Bloody hell.

I've also been reliably informed that when people get bonked on the head, little birds don't actually fly around them in circles tweeting, and yet cartoons persistently portray this, how completely misleading.

Seriously, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound, determined to die on the hill that maps don't ever have the word "map" written on them and no illustrator would never write the word "map" on a map to show that it's a map and as a result it must be some enormous PAEDOPHILE CONSPIRACY. You actively need help at this point, get off the internet and go and talk to someone.

More ad homs, slurs, and insults.

Whereas you're always the articulate soul of courtesy and decorum, aren't you Arabella?

Little tweety birds are quite the pictorial reference for a bonk on the head, aren’t they? Especially for small children.

Whereas something that just says MAP with no pictorial reference for small children means … what?

It means that it's a map.

Seriously. The single sole basis you have for claiming this book contains a MAP reference is that it has a picture of a map featured in the context of a box of travel memorabilia, and that the map has the word "map" written on it to show that it's a map. That, and the apparent assumption that there's an inherent connection between gayness and paedophilia. You're being absurd and more than a little offensive.

No, there’s no inherent connection to being gay and having an unhealthy interest in children.

That’s just you being absurd and offensive.

Sabrina, I am not the person here who is claiming this book about a gay granddad contains secret references to a pro-paedophile movement. You are the one claiming that. You are the one making that connection. You.

Oh I’m not claiming anything.

But I’m fucking wary of people peddling this crap to small children to normalise behaviour that should be ringing alarm
bells. Big time.

You mean the much respected Sex Matters and SEEN organisations? Wow. The sources are respected.

And the male sex is not a 'minority group' they are 50% of the population and are the oppressor sex.

Safeguarding applies to any vulnerable group such as women and children.

And yes, toilets ARE safe spaces for women. Women flee to the ladies to escape a man. We cry. Seek help. We miscarry there. We change out at the sinks to go clubbing. We wash blood-stained underwear at the sink, and baby sick off our blouses. We are in a semi state of dress. We don't want MALES there.

Whoever told you that rubbish is having a lend of you. Or, you made it up on the spot all by yourself.

Gender Critical means critical of gender stereotypes. That's it.

Yet we are not phobic of 'trans' people as we have no problem with trans men (females). We are phobic of males.

In other words 'I cowardly won't answer questions I know I can't and/or the answer will make myself look bad.'

Young children will only see that though (unless those of you that cite BDSM and fetish are teaching your children about those subjects, which could be seen as a tad hypocritical). 🙄

That's why children are so vulnerable to what would be an obvious red flag to most adults.

Not necessarily. They could be at a play date and find the book there. They could be gifted it by someone who likes the LGBT+ theme but hasn't flicked through it.

I am captain and coach at my local rowing club. We have roughly 300 odd members over half of which are women. We also have a large juniors section with girls making up over half that cohort. Sexual offences are overwhelmingly carried out by men, the rate of offending does not magically dissappear when a man decides to identify as a woman. One in four women in the UK have been victims of sexual assault. Thats quite a few potentially vulnerable women with whom safeguarding policies, especially around changing rooms are required. Safeguarding is exclusionary by its nature, good men stay out so bad men stand out. And with all due respect, fully intact biological men trying to force their way into women's changing rooms are bad men, I dont care how they 'identify', you can't tell who is predatory or not. You might be cool with it, many others are not. The idea that we should just park basic safeguarding principles to avoid hurting the feelings of men is mind boggling.

I've just seen Grandad's Pride being showcased at my library, at the entrance. I complained about this book when it came out, and now it's back again. Now what 😫

You should have checked it out.

Really shoddy editing - who on earth thinks it’s a good idea for Woodhouse to go ahead and illustrate a woman in a hijab at Pride? Woodhouse must have been laughing at how little pushback he had about the normalisation of grooming throughout. I don’t think it’s an accident that the map is labelled looking at the book as a whole. I work with children’s book illustrators - absolutely everything that’s drawn is a careful choice.

Dude, stop gaslighting. You are being ridiculous.

I think that's sarcasm