R.L. Stine, author of the popular Goosebumps line of children’s books, claims publisher Scholastic never showed or consulted him about more than 100 “woke” edits to his books. The news comes on the heels of similar edits made to Roald Dahl’s books, with the permission of Dahl’s literary trust.
The Times (UK) reported on Friday that Stine’s “self-censoring includes changing ‘plump’ to ‘cheerful’ and ‘crazy’ to ‘silly.’” Deadline reported late last week that the 79-year-old Stine himself was “revising” Goosebumps by “making edits to the published work with a more inclusive language.”
Among many other changes, references to a character’s weight and to Anna Karenina being “girl’s stuff” have been altered to height and the Tolstoy book being “not interesting.”
Stine quickly refuted the notion that he was responsible. “The stories aren’t true. I’ve never changed a word in Goosebumps. Any changes were never shown to me,” he tweeted on Monday.
Scholastic said in a statement regarding edits dating all the way back to 2018:
Scholastic takes its responsibility seriously to continue bringing this classic adolescent brand to each new generation. When re-issuing titles several years ago, Scholastic reviewed the text to keep the language current and avoid imagery that could negatively impact a young person’s view of themselves today, with a particular focus on mental health.
These edits raise the question: Whose books are they, anyway?
When I buy my kids a copy of Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and it says “by Roald Dahl” right there on the cover, I expect the author of that book to be Roald Dahl. I don’t expect the author to be “Mostly Roald Dahl but with changes made by tremulous ‘sensitivity readers’ hired by the pants-wetting publisher.”
Actually, that’s not a bad idea.
Let’s have a little truth in advertising, shall we?
If a publisher wants to make changes to an author’s work — and assuming they have the contractual authority to do so — don’t allow them the legal right to claim that the author is still the author.
Show potential buyers what’s really between the covers of each and every book. On one shelf, you could choose Goosebumps – Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine. On the other shelf would sit Goosebumps – Night of the Less Gifted Persyn by R.L. Stine and a Committee of Otherwise Useless Purple-Haired Twentysomethings.
Let’s see which one sells better, shall we?
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