by Amidst the major controversy that inclusionary changes were made without author RL Stine’s permission to his classic children’s book series “Goosebumps” published by Scholastic, actor and writer Kirk Cameron — as well as his own book publisher, Brave Books — shared thoughts on the matter with Fox News Digital on Wednesday afternoon.
“Violating God’s plan for the healthy moral development of children is always a bad idea in the Bible — something about a millstone tied around your neck and thrown into the sea,” Cameron told Fox News Digital in emailed comments.
He added, “If I were a Scholastic, I would take this divine admonition as a serious warning and immediately reverse myself. Every good parent knows that influencing the hearts and minds of children is a sacred privilege and responsibility.”
RL STINE ACCUSES PUBLISHER OF CHANGING ‘GOOSEBUMPS’ BOOKS WITHOUT PERMISSION: ‘I NEVER CHANGED A WORD’
“Wokeism is a virus in society,” Texas-based Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot told Fox News Digital on Wednesday night. “It’s destroying the art of our generation and now it’s become so powerful that it’s coming back and destroying the art of previous generations.”
Talbot added that “changing the content of books from 25 years ago continues a terrible precedent set in the publishing industry.”
RL Stine, author of the wildly popular Goosebumps series of children’s books, rings the NASDAQ opening bell to celebrate Halloween and “Goosebumps” at NASDAQ on October 30, 2015, in New York City. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Talbot also said, “The incident is particularly troubling considering that Scholastic is not only the largest publisher of children’s books in the US, but also dominates the distribution of children’s books to schools and libraries.”
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As Fox News Digital reported earlier Wednesday, the edits to Stine’s children’s book series were apparently made in the name of inclusiveness and amid concern for the feelings of some included changing the description of an alien characterized as having “at least six chins” to ” to at least six feet six” tall — while another change had to do with descriptions of an African-American character.
Stine said any such changes to his written material were made without his knowledge or permission.
Some of the edits also reportedly included “changing ‘chubby’ to ‘cheerful’ and ‘crazy’ to ‘stupid,'” the UK Times noted.
Author Stine, 79, said this week in a tweet that he “never changed a word in a Goosebumps book.”
Instead, he said, any such changes to his written material were made in his books without his knowledge or permission.
Kirk Cameron, the Los Angeles-based actor, writer and producer, has spoken to parents and children at public libraries in cities across the US, sharing pro-faith, pro-family and pro-country messages. Above, he is seen holding a copy of his children’s book, “As You Grow,” during an event. (Brave Books/Kirk Cameron)
Recently there has been news of editing other popular books as well, including editing works by children’s author Roald Dahl.
But in the case of Stine’s books, the recent changes were thought to have been made by the author himself — yet Stine said he did not make the changes.
In a recent statement distributed, publisher Scholastic said revisions were made to the Goosebumps books in an effort to keep the language consistent with modern audiences.
Scholastic said, in part, in its statement shared with Fox News Digital, “When reissuing titles several years ago, Scholastic reviewed the text to keep the language up-to-date and avoid images that could negatively affect the view of a new one for himself today. , with a special emphasis on mental health”.
Cameron told Fox News Digital Wednesday afternoon that he is “working side-by-side with Brave Books on the Freedom Island Tour,” referring to his publisher’s series of children’s books that share positive and uplifting messages.
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In Cameron’s “As You Grow,” young readers follow a tree’s journey from “a small acorn to a mighty tree that provides shade, nourishment, and shelter.”
The book also shares biblical wisdom.
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Cameron added: “We’re heading to libraries across the country, igniting fires of courage in communities to stand up and be BRAVE, stand up for good values and root out evil in their own backyards.”
Cameron spoke most recently in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He continues a nationwide tour and has plans to speak at events in cities such as Denver, Washington, New York and more.
Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penney contributed reporting.
