Little Legs

                             Little Legs

            A recent article in the NYT, entitled "Is Harry Potter Evil?",
            was not all that fanciful. The book, "Harry Potter and the
            Prisoners of Azkaban" is under fire in Michigan, New York,
            California and South Carolina from parents who think the
            Harry Potter series promotes witchcraft and the occult.

            This is a very serious matter and demands our vigilance. My
            guess, however, is that the series, which has captured the
            hearts of children around the world, will survive the
            onslaught of political correctness. Less well-known titles, on
            the other hand, might not be as fortunate. A publisher of such
            titles, the Oklahoma-based Mad Hatter's Knickers, is
            already feeling the sting.

            According to the publisher of this $1 million revenue family
            business, her books have been under assault in Texas and
            New Hampshire. "The pressure has been enormous," said
            Evelyn Pasteur. "First it was the religious right. Now it's the
            denizens of political correctness."

            Pasteur went to court to fight an injunction against the
            second printing and distribution of "Happy Trails to You," a
            collection of bedside stories told from the point of view of
            Bessie-the-cow. "Bessie", Pasteur notes, "talks about the
            importance of milk in the diet and the need for strong teeth.
            Funny, no one seems concerned that this printing was
            underwritten by the National Dairy Council."

            "Happy Trails," it should be noted, has a dark side. In the
            story "Bessie Goes Home" the cow anticipates the
            slaughterhouse with a mixture of glee and abandon. "I am on
            my way," moos Bessie, "to becoming a Happy Meal. And that
            makes me very, very happy. When you bite into that Big Mac,
            think of Bessie and remember to be good. I will be that warm
            feeling in your tummy."

            "Little Legs," a book about the treatment of calves on their
            way to veal, has also raised some eyebrows.  Pasteur thinks
            the criticism overblown. "Cuddly Calf" is about how the
            animal uses its imagination when it can't go out to play.
            Children face this problem all the time, especially those kept
            on a short lease."

            "Sure the calf knows it will become Mummy's meal on her
            special day but that's life. Cows are not commodities but they
            are in service to man. We humanize them.:

            Nonetheless, threats of boycott and censorship are having an
            effect. Plans to issue "Mad Cow Capers," about how diseased
            cows take over a badly managed slaughterhouse, have been
            shelved. So has a book about cross-breed dating. Too
            inflammatory, notes the publisher.

            Pasteur thinks America is in a state of denial. "This is a
            cannibal culture," she notes. "We are simply trying to
            introduce death, cannibalism, and torture to young children
            through these happy tales.

            "It's easier," she concludes, "for parents to talk about sex,
            bestiality, and murder than the genesis of the Big Whopper."