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How about 'The Three Little Hamsters'?

Posted by David Mehegan January 25, 2008 10:41 AM

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On the cultural sensitivity front, the judges for a government-sponsored British book award have rejected a retelling of "The Three Little Pigs" because it might be offensive to Muslims -- and home-builders.

The animated digital book is called "The Three Little Cowboy Builders," and has already won English book awards. According to the BBC, however, judges for Becta, a government agency that sponsors the BET award for childen's books, said they "could not recommend this project to the Muslim community." Since the Big Bad Wolf blows the pigs' houses down, the judges added darkly, the book might also "alienate parts of the workforce (building trade)."

It's not entirely clear why the mere presence of pigs in a book would offend Muslims, unless the wolf in the story, who indeed is desirous of dining on pork, is depicted as a Muslim. If so, the wages of sin is death. One wonders what the English pig farmers think of this contretemps. If the carpenters and home-builders of England would be outraged by the story, they must be a defensive lot indeed.

We'll watch this one closely.

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Ralph Ranalli is the producer of the Globe's "Great Writers" podcast.
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