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LONDON — A children’s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after criticism that it was offensive to indigenous Australians.
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The Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday that “Billy And The Epic Escape,” published earlier this year by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, will help educate Australia about nature, including its relationship with nature. It reported that it had been accused of using a series of metaphors and stereotypes about indigenous people. spiritual world.
The group criticized one of the fantasy novel’s subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialization and stereotyping of Indigenous people and experiences.”
Oliver, 49, said in a statement he was “deeply shocked” that he had offended and apologized “wholeheartedly.”
“It was never my intention to misunderstand this very painful issue,” he said. “Together with the publisher we have decided to withdraw this book from sale.”
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Indigenous activists were particularly appalled by the fact that Oliver and his publisher, Penguin Random House, did not consult with them before the novel was published.
“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short in this incident, and we must learn from it and take decisive action,” the publisher said. “With this in mind, we have reached an agreement with author Jamie Oliver to withdraw the book from sale.”
Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is one of the celebrities who has put his name in a children’s book. This trend has been criticized by many children’s book authors, who say they are being pushed out of the market.
Oliver published his first children’s book, ‘The Adventures of Billy and the Giant’, last year and said in a social media post that he had ‘carefully chosen the font to ensure the text is as clear as possible’ for people with dyslexia like him to find. It’s difficult to read.
Oliver, who found fame in 1999 with the book and TV show “The Naked Chef,” has long campaigned on children’s food and nutrition and made headlines in Britain in 2005 when he spoke out about nutritional problems in some school dinners.
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