We are establishing a proud tradition of confusing and upsetting children with our work. Not long ago, we received a letter from the father of a young boy who was distressed by the unfolding of events in our book The Super Hero Squad Flips Out!
Now, just this morning, we received this email from the mother of a young girl named Addie who was baffled by certain scenes from Build Your Own President: 2012.
As follows (I will insert a number of images from the book to more fully illustrate the terms of Addie’s confusion):
Greetings.
I hope all is well in your part of the world! We received the latest book last night and loved it. However, Addie has a few questions that I thought you all might best be able to answer. Here they are, in no particular order:
1) “Mommy, this one is the silliest. How can you have two heads and only one neck?”
2) “How can Obama have a basketball while he is on a camel?”
3) In reference to the cover: “Why does Obama have a mommy shirt and nipples?”
Thank you for providing stimulating breakfast and dinner table conversations for our family!! You have truly reached the hearts and minds of both the adult and 3-year-old populations with this one!
Talk soon, Garet
We are cheered Addie’s clear engagement with the issues of the day. In her, we find a keen observer of the contemporary political landscape and all its blatant hypocrisies and baffling contradictions. We only wish we had satisfying answers for these questions, which are sure to plague her throughout her life.
Perhaps the best we can do at present is to propose that every commander in chief needs a mommy shirt at some point and that Michael Jordan’s game might have been even more transcendant had he played from camelback. As for two headedness, we agree that it’s just creepy. Surely no one with this problem should be elected president.
