The book Biff Chip and Kipper describes the foreign land as ‘scary’ by Oxford University Press | UK News
The popular children’s book from the Biff, Chip and Kipper series has been recalled following complaints about its depiction of Muslims.
A copy of The Blue Eye has been withdrawn by Oxford University Press (OUP) following criticism.
In the book, the young characters are transported to a foreign land with the help of a key and find themselves in a busy street market, seemingly somewhere in the Middle East.
The men are wearing turbans, with Biff saying, “Let’s stay together. People here don’t seem very friendly.”
Wilf, another character, said: “I don’t like this place. It’s scary.”
OUP told Sky News that the headline was originally published in 2001 and edited in 2012, with the last sentence of text on the page in question changed to: “It would be very easy to lose each other at a such a crowded place.”
The publisher said the book was removed from circulation in March of this year after an independent review and is no longer available for purchase.
“OUP has destroyed its own remaining stock of books, although a small number of copies may remain in the supply chain; some older titles may still be available in libraries or as second-hand copies. “, OUP said.
“At OUP, we regularly review and make changes to our title lists to ensure they are up-to-date, diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the world we live in, and that they I take steps to remove any products that are no longer relevant from our collection.
Read more: Children’s books do not reflect diversity
“We also constantly listen to feedback from our customers, and we take our responsibility to learn and improve very seriously.
“We have invested and are investing in growing our team to create more comprehensive content, and are working with experts on all D&I characteristics to drive innovation to content. / current and new title.”
The dog series Biff, Chip, Kipper and Floppy was first published more than 30 years ago and, according to OUP, is read by 30 million children globally.
