From cartoonist Clay Jones about “Lazy Lucy vs. Polygamist Pete,” Reading Horizons, and wise spending of education funding
Reading Horizons is a publisher of educational material in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over 10,000 schools use their programs. They recently published some books with characters such as Lazy Lucy. Lazy Lucy is depicted somewhere in Africa, and she struggles to keep her hut clean. There’s Nieko The Hunting Girl who’s an American Indian hunting Woolly Mammoths. They also let us know that Kenyans can run very fast.
Reading Horizons is catching some heat so don’t hold your breath for the planned children’s story Willy And His Watermelons.
The Minneapolis school board is upset. They called the books “culturally insensitive and unacceptable.” They really don’t like stereotypes in Minnesota. You betcha they don’t.
They also want a refund of the $1.2 million they paid to Reading Horizons, which would buy a lot of Jello (you have to be aware they eat a lot of Jello in Utah to get that joke. It’s probably not as well known of a stereotype as Mormons and polygamy).
$1.2 million? I can come up with some educational material for just half that price. We can start with something like why you shouldn’t purchase educational materials from someone with the cultural and sensitivity awareness of a Klansman….or Donald Trump.
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