All Sorts of Stupidity 3

It's been a while since a mere newspaper article got me this stirred up. Perhaps it's because it combines my two great loves- children's books and food.

Eric Carle's 1969 classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar is under attack in Melbourne.

I wasn't lucky enough to have this book be part of my childhood but I made sure that my son enjoyed The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a toddler. And enjoy it he did. He loved that book. We read it over and over and over again. I think it was one of the very first (and few actually) books that he "read" to me.

For those not overly familiar with the story- a little caterpillar is born on a leaf one fine Sunday morning. He sets about to eat as caterpillars do. Ravenously. Initially he chomps his way through a mountain of fruit, on the way teaching kids counting and days of the week. But he was STILL hungry. So he goes on a binge. And it's funny, and gross. And the kids get that it's funny and gross, and too much, and way over the top.

But clearly a bunch of do-gooder parents in Melbourne hasn't worked it out. They don't get the joke. They have replaced Carle's OTT 1969 binge with what? Low fat yoghurt! And Steamed Broccoli.

Picture credit

Oh please. Spare me. The world really is going insane.