How should we teach the events of 9/11 to small children? Wayne Bell, the publisher of Really Big Coloring Books Inc. has an answer:
A "graphic coloring novel" called We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids' Book of Freedom. The 36-page coloring book depicts the Twin Towers smoldering, survivors mourning the tragedy's victims, and a Navy SEAL shooting Osama bin Laden, who is (inaccurately) cowering behind a woman in a Muslim hijab. (See the image below.) Bell nevertheless claims it's "a very clean, honest read that does not shy away from the facts" about 9/11.
What do you think? Is it appropriate? Should 9/11 be memorialized in crayons? Link
That said. This is NOT a subject for a coloring book. Coloring books, are supposed to help with motor functions, and be a bright happy learning experience. To take away a childs Cars, or Tangled Coloring book, and to replace it with scenes of grief, violence, and politics, and present it as a fun, creative and artistic activity, falls into the land of desensitizing and brainwashing, and taking away some of the safety/security you are supposed to feel as a child, so you can grow up and be a well adjusted adult.
I'm sure this guy developed this book as a sensationalistic piece, to make money, and stir controversy, but for the parents who think it is a GOOD idea, you trouble me.