The Color of War

You know, I didn't know that war could be "colorful." Oh sure, the first color people probably think of when they think of war is red, the color of blood. But today I found out that war could be yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, and even pink, when I stumbled across a coloring book published by Dalmation Press called, LET'S GET GOING! in the play area of the West Linn City Hall waiting room.

The LET'S GET GOING! coloring book is part of Dalmation Press' "Giant Book to Color" series. The cover shows three F-16-type jet fighters flying, so I assumed from the title that this coloring book would be about either airplanes, jets, or things that go (a very typical theme for toddlers).

Opening it for Little Scribe to color in, I was shocked to find two soldiers dressed in fatigues holding an "oozie" at the ready (not sure about the spelling of this, but I'm not a gun expert, so...) The worst part of all is that the soldiers were colored in stereotypical Crayola green, with a blue sky, red clouds, green grass, and black rocks.

Oh, and the oozie was colored pink.

THIS IS A TODDLER'S COLORING BOOK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

What is the world of children's books coming to? To find out, I looked up Dalmation Press in my latest Publisher's Weekly, which just happens to be the new Children's Spring Books preview issue. Coming out this spring, ladies and gentlemen, are such graphic and gratuitous topics as a board book called, NOAH'S ARK, a picture book called HEAVEN ON EARTH, a retelling of the hymn, ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL in picture book form, and a new version of that ancient bestseller, THE CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED BIBLE.

Due to the overwhelming amount of children's religious books being published by Dalmation Press this season, I have to ask the most obvious of questions-- What would Jesus think of their coloring book?

Don't get me wrong, I am completely for the First Amendment and totally against book burning, but this coloring book really tempted me to stray and chuck it into my wood-burning stove. I just cringe every time I imagine a little boy or girl coloring that oozie pink. This coloring book is totally aimed at toddlers and preschoolers, too. I don't feel that I am unpatriotic in having these feelings, just in favor of non-violent coloring books for our smallest of walking citizens, the toddler and preschooler set (and grade schoolers as well, but that's a pipe dream, I'm sure.)

Is this a lot to ask?

I'm assuming that this coloring book was published for children whose parents, other family members, neighbors, etc, are involved in the war in Iraq. Or, it could be that it was published just to praise our military forces. Great. Fantastic. I love our troops. But does it have to show dozens of weapons of war in order to make its point? I think children will be filled with pride for our military forces without a Navy Seal-type of soldier ready to fire (colored orange, by the way) or a soldier carrying that weapon of weapons, a missile (colored a festive spring green and yellow mix, with the soldier's face colored a Mardi Gras-esque purple and yellow.) What's next, showing a nuclear weapon dropping from a Stealth Fighter?

Come on, Dalmation Press. The graphic illustrations in LET'S GET GOING! should be, in the final words of Donald Crews' Caldecott award-winning board book, FREIGHT TRAIN,

"Going, going, gone....."

(And as far as the West Linn City Hall is concerned, I just hope that they plead ignorance...)