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Wicked Witch Of Left: How Hillary Became A Storybook Villain
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 10-9-2005 | James Langton
Wicked witch of Left: how Hillary became a storybook villain
By James Langton
(Filed: 09/10/2005)
A children's picture book for conservatives whose villains include Hillary Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy has become the surprise publishing hit of the year.
Sales of Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! have rivalled even the latest Harry Potter novel, with the book racing up the best-seller charts after it was published two weeks ago.
'Congresswoman Clunkton'
Written by Katharine DeBrecht, a mother of three, it tells the story of two young brothers who try to make money from a lemonade stall but are thwarted at every turn by Left-wing politicians who threaten to put them out of business.
Steeped in Republican values, the book was written as an alternative to Left-leaning children's tales such as King and King whose royal hero finds true love in a gay marriage and Heather Has Two Mommies about a little girl with lesbian parents.
Mrs DeBrecht, a journalist and member of the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women, says she wrote the book because she could find "nothing to teach traditional Republican values… My children were being bombarded with liberal values in school and books and on TV and the movies.''
Several of the characters in the book are instantly recognisable, including "Congresswoman Clunkton" who tells the boys to reduce the amount of sugar in their lemonade and forces them to add a sprig of healthy broccoli to every glass.
Other recognisable characters from American politics include Sen Kennedy as "Mayor Leach" who takes half the profits for tax and then squanders it on dustpans.
Later the boys are ordered to take down a picture of Jesus by the civil liberties lawyer Mr Fussman and eventually lose the stand when it is taken over by the government of "Liberaland", at which point it goes broke.
Their story turns out to be a dream, however, and the boys are able to pursue their free market ambitions when they wake up.
Just two days after it was published, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! was singled out for praise by Rush Limbaugh, the influential conservative radio show host. Sales rocketed overnight and at one point the book was second only to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the children's list on Amazon.
It has provoked a furious reaction among Democrats, with one Left-wing website comparing it with Nazi propaganda and another adding Mrs DeBrecht to its weekly list of "Top 10 Conservative Idiots". The author dismisses their complaints as "typical whining from the Left". The book, she says, is "very sweet and easy to read but there is also some humour for the adults''.
Children's books have always been a political minefield in America. A father in Massachusetts was taken away in handcuffs last week after he objected to a book sent home in his five-year-old son's "diversity book bag". David Parker refused to leave the school after officials rejected his request to remove Who's in a Family? which portrays gay couples. He now faces six months in prison for trespassing.
Mrs DeBrecht says she doubts her book will be widely bought by teachers, but says many parents have written to her saying they will use it as a textbook for home schooling their children.
She is completing a follow-up, to be published in January, called Help Mom, Hollywood is in My Hamper. There will, she promises, "be plenty of recognisable characters".
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 10-9-2005 | James Langton
Wicked witch of Left: how Hillary became a storybook villain
By James Langton
(Filed: 09/10/2005)
A children's picture book for conservatives whose villains include Hillary Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy has become the surprise publishing hit of the year.
Sales of Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! have rivalled even the latest Harry Potter novel, with the book racing up the best-seller charts after it was published two weeks ago.
'Congresswoman Clunkton'
Written by Katharine DeBrecht, a mother of three, it tells the story of two young brothers who try to make money from a lemonade stall but are thwarted at every turn by Left-wing politicians who threaten to put them out of business.
Steeped in Republican values, the book was written as an alternative to Left-leaning children's tales such as King and King whose royal hero finds true love in a gay marriage and Heather Has Two Mommies about a little girl with lesbian parents.
Mrs DeBrecht, a journalist and member of the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women, says she wrote the book because she could find "nothing to teach traditional Republican values… My children were being bombarded with liberal values in school and books and on TV and the movies.''
Several of the characters in the book are instantly recognisable, including "Congresswoman Clunkton" who tells the boys to reduce the amount of sugar in their lemonade and forces them to add a sprig of healthy broccoli to every glass.
Other recognisable characters from American politics include Sen Kennedy as "Mayor Leach" who takes half the profits for tax and then squanders it on dustpans.
Later the boys are ordered to take down a picture of Jesus by the civil liberties lawyer Mr Fussman and eventually lose the stand when it is taken over by the government of "Liberaland", at which point it goes broke.
Their story turns out to be a dream, however, and the boys are able to pursue their free market ambitions when they wake up.
Just two days after it was published, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed! was singled out for praise by Rush Limbaugh, the influential conservative radio show host. Sales rocketed overnight and at one point the book was second only to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the children's list on Amazon.
It has provoked a furious reaction among Democrats, with one Left-wing website comparing it with Nazi propaganda and another adding Mrs DeBrecht to its weekly list of "Top 10 Conservative Idiots". The author dismisses their complaints as "typical whining from the Left". The book, she says, is "very sweet and easy to read but there is also some humour for the adults''.
Children's books have always been a political minefield in America. A father in Massachusetts was taken away in handcuffs last week after he objected to a book sent home in his five-year-old son's "diversity book bag". David Parker refused to leave the school after officials rejected his request to remove Who's in a Family? which portrays gay couples. He now faces six months in prison for trespassing.
Mrs DeBrecht says she doubts her book will be widely bought by teachers, but says many parents have written to her saying they will use it as a textbook for home schooling their children.
She is completing a follow-up, to be published in January, called Help Mom, Hollywood is in My Hamper. There will, she promises, "be plenty of recognisable characters".
