Outside The Lines? 9/11 Coloring Book Seeks To Tell Kids ‘Truth’ About Terrorism

Really Big Coloring Books' 9/11 coloring book, "We Shall Never Forget"
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First, they brought you a tea party coloring book. Now the publisher is back with more fun for the whole family.

Just in time for the 10th anniversary of September 11, Really Big Coloring Books, Inc., has released “We Shall Never Forget 9/11” — a “serious children’s book,” according to the release. In the book, kids will learn “what happens when a terrorist who orders others to bomb our peace loving wonderful nation” and that “terrorism is human made and is very old; it comes in people of all shapes, sizes, and colors.”

Really Big Coloring Books publisher Wayne Bell told TPM that when children are exposed to the events on 9/11 — usually through two-hour specials on cable news — there is a sense of “fright” that the events are ongoing.

The coloring book, Bell said, is “basically a representation of what happened” on 9/11. “It’s a clean, honest read,” he said. “It’s not degrading or anything like that.’

The book carries a “PG” rating, and there is one page that depicts the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. The image shows a Navy SEAL firing at bin Laden.

Bell said people’s feedback to that page has been positive. Parents tell him that when they show their kids that image, they understand that “we got him.”

“If you bomb our country, America will chase you ’til the very end,” he said. “That’s what it shows.”

While the subject matter certainly carries an emotional charge, Bell insists it’s not ideological. Bell described himself as a “very liberal” guy, and his company has published all types of books: an Obama coloring book, a dinosaurs coloring book and many books in Spanish.

“We publish books based on the American landscape,” he said.

See a page from the coloring book below (click to enlarge):

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