The Book: Maggie Goes on a Diet
The Gist: A chubby girl does on a diet.
The book fueled its own share of controvesy:
The Guardian's "The Women's Blog" asked in its headline if the book is "the worst idea ever?"
"Perhaps in Hawaii it's perfectly OK to read a book to your highly impressionable six-year-old daughter about a teenage girl, at the prime age for developing anorexia," sniped writer Laura Barnett.
Over at "Bitch" magazine, blogger Ashley McAllister introduced her piece on the book with, "In this week's douchey children's lit news…".
McAllister went on: "The message behind this book is clearly telling young girls that they'll only be happy and "normal" if they're thin, AS IF THEY AREN'T FED THAT MESSAGE OFTEN ENOUGH ALREADY."
At BabyCenter.com, blogger Lindsay Weiss questions the book's title, saying the word diet "should never be a key word in a child's picture book. And the cover illustration is downright scary -- it clearly implies it's all about fitting into the dress."
Users on Amazon.com have tagged the book with the keywords, "teaching kids to self-hate," "give your children neuroses," "anorexia bait," "if you hate your daughter," and "sexist drivel."
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110823/maggie-goes-on-a-diet-110823/#ixzz1hBax4LsD