title:  Scholastic Yanks Children’s Book For Its Portrayal Of Happy Slaves (IMAGE)
text: On Sunday, publishing company Scholastic announced that it would be removing A Birthday Cake for George Washington from shelves over criticism that the book portrayed happy slaves.In a press release, Scholastic explained that the book needed to include more context on the  evils of slavery  and that all returns would be honored. The statement read: 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can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn. 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. The book, which was released on January 5th, happens to be about an enslaved man and his daughter faced with the task of baking President George Washington a birthday cake. Here s the cover:Scholastic s description of the story reads: 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. Scholastic s reaction is a complete turnaround from its previous defense of the book, which claimed the topic of slavery had been approached with the  utmost care.  Scholastic also previously claimed the book depicted the slaves being happy because they were living in  near-freedom  and simply enjoyed cooking. Scholastic even allowed the book s author, Ramin Ganeshram, to explain the intention behind the book on the publisher s blog last week as public outcry increased. Graneshram insisted that his story was based on historical research and was meant as a compliment to the slaves  resiliency and resourcefulness. Graneshram wrote: How could they smile? How could they be anything but unrelentingly miserable?  Ganeshram wrote.  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. Even before Scholastic made its decision to pull it, the book had over 100 one-star reviews on Amazon. At the time the announcement was made, only 12 of those reviews were positive.School Library Journal called the book  highly problematic,  advising people not to buy it. Kirkus Reviews, another trade publication, said the book was  an incomplete, even dishonest treatment of slavery. Featured image via Twitter