O.J. Simpson's 'If I Did It' Will Be Published After All

You might recall that awhile back, O.J. Simpson was set to publish his book called 'If I Did It', but the Goldman family went to court to have the publication and sale of this book stopped. The courts gave all rights to the book to the Goldman family. This was a brilliant move on their part because O.J. owes them a lot of money from the $38 million wrongful death law suit that they won but O.J. couldn't afford to pay. So now the Goldman's can publish and sell the book and receive all the money it brings in. And O.J. will get none.


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Laura Bush to Write a Book for Children

Laura Bush, in collaboration with her daughter Jenna, is writing a children's picture book.

In a statement from HarperCollins, the book's publisher, it says:

"The story is loosely based on Mrs. Bush's and Jenna's experiences as teachers"...[The story] "depicts a mischievous little boy who likes to do everything but read. With the help of his teacher, he finds out that books and their characters can be a lot of fun."

The book will be illustrated by Denise Brunkus, who illustrates for the Junie B. Jones series. Net proceeds of the book will be donated to Teach for America and The New Teacher Project. It will be published next spring 2008 and is yet untitled.


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6 Reasons Banning Children's Books is Stupid

As I've mentioned before, I am very much against banning books. The newest target of the "irate parents book banning club" is Junie B. Jones because she has bad grammar and bad spelling skills.

Banning is stupid! Here's why:

1. Your child will talk the way you talk. I promise you that. If you use good grammar, so will they. They may read a book with bad grammar, like Junie B. or Tom Sawyer, and they might emulate the speech for a period of time. But they will get bored of it and resort to the grammar that you use. This happens because you are their primary speech teachers. Unless you've delegated the job to someone else, in which case I can't make any guarantees.

2. Kids will either learn to spell correctly or they may end up being the kind of person who needs to use a dictionary or spell check. In which case it's not the end of the world.

3. If you insist on feeling insecure in your child's ability to understand the difference between how they are expected to talk and how a character in a book talks, you could use the book as a lesson on how not to talk.

4. Banning is not only stupid, it reduces our choices thus taking a chunk out of our freedom.

5. Don't be afraid to let your child visit a different perspective through books. It helps them to learn who they are in a world full of people who are different from themselves.

6. Taking books away from children is like encouraging them not to read. Be happy that your child is interested in books. Reading is good for them! Even if it has bad grammar and incorrect spelling.

Even though this list is specifically in response to the Junie B. issues, the principles can still apply to other books whose topics parents find uncomfortable and ban worthy.