The market for celebrity-authored children’s books is booming. From Barack Obama to Madonna, a whole host of celebrities have penned children’s books in recent years.
But now, Jamie Oliver has pulled his latest children’s book, Billy and the Epic Escape, from shelves after facing backlash that it stereotyped Indigenous Australians.
The 400-page fantasy novel, which was published earlier this year, is set in England but has a subplot in Australia's Alice Springs where the novel’s villain abducts a young First Nations girl with mystical powers who is living in foster care in an Indigenous community.
Over the weekend it was reported that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation had condemned Oliver’s book, saying the plot contributed to the ‘erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.’
In a statement, Oliver said he was ‘devastated’ to have caused offence and apologised ‘wholeheartedly.’ ‘It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,’ he said. ‘Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.’
Penguin Random House UK, who published the book, said Oliver had requested Indigenous Australians be consulted over the book, but an ‘editorial oversight’ meant that did not happen.
‘It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that,’ they wrote in the statement.
A further complaint centred around the character’s ability to read people’s minds and communicate with animals and plants because ‘that’s the Indigenous way.’ Sharon Davis from the national First Nations' education body said this reduces ‘complex and diverse belief systems’ to ‘magic.’
Davis also criticised implications in a chapter titled To Steal a Child that First Nations families ‘are easily swayed by money and neglect the safety of their children.’
‘[It] perpetuates a racist stereotype that has been used to justify child removals for over a century,’ she said. ‘This portrayal is not only offensive but also reinforces damaging biases.’
Oliver’s first children book, Billy And The Giant Adventure, was released last year. He wrote in a social media post that he had ‘carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible’ as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.
Oliver joins a long list of celebrities who have jumped on the trend for publishing children’s books. Most recently, Keira Knightley revealed she as writing a children’s book_, I Love You Just the Same_, which will be published next October.