Los Angeles Times

‘Where the Woke Things Are’

... and other fanciful titles that could (theoretica­lly) see the light of day if the GOP moves beyond book banning and launches its own line of children’s books

- By Roy Rivenburg Roy Rivenburg is a former Times staff writer.

Banning books is only half the battle. The next step for Republican­s is to launch their own line of children’s titles to fill the vacuum.

“Horton Hears a Dog Whistle” will be the first new storybook for kids, part of a series of Dr. Seuss doppelgang­ers that includes “Green Eggs and Hannity,” “How the Grinch Stole the Election,” “The Cat in the MAGA Hat” and its 2024 sequel, “The Cat in the MAGA Hat Comes Back.”

A collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes will follow. “Hansel and Greta Thunberg” dismantles global warming while “Trumpelsti­ltskin” stars an orange creature who spins straw into 11,000 votes in Georgia. Other stories in the anthology include “Snow White Anglo-Saxon Protestant,” “Goldman Sachs and the Three Bear Markets,” “Roger Stone Soup” and “Little Red State Riding Hood.”

There’s also the cautionary tale of “The Three Little Libs.” The first two are devoured, one after declaring the big bad wolf an endangered species and the second after a progressiv­e district attorney reduces the wolf ’s murder charge to misdemeano­r assault and releases him. The third little lib wisely switches parties, joins the National Rifle Assn. and ultimately enjoys a feast of wolf fajitas.

Another future classic, “Where the Woke Things Are,” features a young boy who sails to an island inhabited by leftist monsters who try to frighten him with accusation­s of racism, transphobi­a and climate denial. He discovers they’re just a bunch of oversized snowflakes and sends them to bed without supper.

For older readers, the book lineup includes “Cloudy With a Chance of Rand Pauls,” “The Phantom Voting Booth,” “James and the Giant Impeachmen­t Hoax” and “Heather Has Two Mommies … Who Will Burn in Hell.”

The fantasy genre will be anchored by “The Chronicles of Antifa” and “Harry Potter and the Soros’ Drone.” In the latter, Quidditch meets QAnon as an 11-yearold conservati­ve discovers Hillary Clinton’s email server has him under surveillan­ce.

Last but not least, expect a flurry of new titles to be published in time for the holiday season. They include “Curious George Bush,” “Goodnight Roe” (in which the Supreme Court bids adieu to various civil rights), “The Little Elon That Could,” “Charlotte’s Web of Conspiracy Theories,” a primer on fake news called “And to Think That I Saw It on MSNBC” and, of course, “Donald and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad FBI Raid.”

 ?? Jackson Gibbs For The Times ??
Jackson Gibbs For The Times

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