Slavery-themed children’s picture book pulled from shelves

A CHILDREN’S picture book depicting happy, excited slaves baking a birthday cake for their owner has been axed amid a social media backlash.

Slavery-themed book pulled from shelves

A CHILDREN’S picture book depicting happy, excited slaves baking a cake for President George Washington has been pulled from sale amid criticism that it sugar-coats the brutality of slavery.

Penned by journalist and chef Ramin Ganeshram, A Birthday Cake for George Washington tells the story of the President’s African-American slaves as they excitedly look for ingredients to bake a birthday cake for their “owner”.

It went on sale on January 5, but amid a growing social media backlash — including hundreds of one-star Amazon reviews — publisher Scholastic today announced it has pulled the book from sale.

Scholastic’s own publicity blurb for the book makes mention of Hercules, the President’s slave and head chef, who ‘takes great pride’ in baking a cake for his master:

“Everyone is buzzing about the president’s birthday! Especially George Washington’s servants, who scurry around the kitchen preparing to make this the best celebration ever. Oh, how George Washington loves his cake! And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him. Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president’s cake. But this year there is one problem — they are out of sugar.

“This story, told in the voice of Delia, Hercules’s young daughter, is based on real events, and underscores the loving exchange between a very determined father and his eager daughter, who are faced with an unspoken, bittersweet reality. No matter how delicious the president’s cake turns out to be, Delia and Papa will not taste the sweetness of freedom.”

While the book does acknowledge the reality that its protagonists do not enjoy freedom, many readers — including those who flooded the book’s Amazon listing with negative reviews — nonetheless objected to the depiction of slaves as happy and joyous.

Announcing they would cease distribution of the book and accept all returns, Scholastic today released the following statement:

“While we have great respect for the integrity and scholarship of the author, illustrator, and editor, we believe that, without more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn.

Scholastic has a long history of explaining complex and controversial issues to children at all ages and grade levels. We do not believe this title meets the standards of appropriate presentation of information to younger children, despite the positive intentions and beliefs of the author, editor, and illustrator.”

In her own defence of the book, published on the Children’s Book Council Diversity website, author Ganeshram points out that she is in fact telling the real-life story of George Washington’s head chef, “a man who lived with pride and dignity”.

“I know these facts from the nearly four years of research I did with the aid of historians, largely, at the National Park Service’s President’s House site in Philadelphia, where my story is set. We know from first-hand accounts that Hercules was famous in his day as a towering culinarian — admired and in-charge, despite his bondage,” she writes.

“Yet, the discussion and criticism of the book has, instead, been focused on the literal face value of the characters. How could they smile? How could they be anything but unrelentingly miserable? How could they be proud to bake a cake for George Washington? The answers to those questions are complex because human nature is complex. Bizarrely and yes, disturbingly, there were some enslaved people who had a better quality of life than others and “close” relationships with those who enslaved them. But they were smart enough to use those “advantages” to improve their lives.”

Originally published as Slavery-themed children’s picture book pulled from shelves