Scholastic, the “world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books,” used a “lost in translation” excuse for leaving the entire nation of Israel off a map in one of its popular books.

“Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt,” was “translated from Italian and published by Scholastic in 2012,” and tells the story about a group of little mouseling sisters on a treasure hunt in Egypt, the Times of Israel reported.

The book contained a detailed map of the Middle East, but is missing Israel –  an “inadvertent” error Scholastic senior vice president for corporate communications Kyle Good claimed in a statement published on its blog Wednesday:

As you have probably heard, Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt, a title in the Geronimo Stilton series, published by Scholastic, includes a map that inadvertently omits Israel. Scholastic is immediately stopping shipment on this title, revising the map, and going back to reprint. We regret the omission which was in the original version of the book published in Italy and was translated by our company for English language distribution.

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

However, several commenters responding to Scholastic’s apology weren’t buying the “inadvertent” excuse:

“Too bad you do not explain how this happened exactly. Catering to radical Muslim groups like CAIR would be a big mistake,” a comment by “Judi” said.

“I’m sorry, perhaps I misunderstood. Is Scholastic a publisher or merely a printer of books? Do you employ editors? Where do you recruit them – the PLO propaganda office?” a comment by “K. Manning” read in part.

“I too am upset about this. The excuse that it was “inadvertance,” [sic] doesn’t wash. Clearly, this went through many editorial checks and was not changed,” “Terry McQuade” wrote.

“How about lets lose Scholastic and go back to reading the Bible and the Book of Genesis (–or a competitor to Scholastic who doesnt bow to the left wing agenda). We dont like you playing games–especially with our children,” commenter “Ross” wrote in part.

“The only proper response is a total recall of all books that have already shipped,” “G Brafman” said, echoing what others believed would be the proper recourse by Scholastic.

H/T: Washington Times.

Watch: Hilarious video of NYPD trying to stop skateboarders goes viral

[poll id=”138″]

• Author
• Recent Posts

Janeen Capizola

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." And fun! This conservative-minded political junkie, mom of three, dancer and one-time NFL cheerleader holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science. [email protected]. Twitter: @JaneenBPR

Latest posts by Janeen Capizola (see all)

• The joke that may have lost John Kerry all his friends at CNN - March 10, 2014
• ‘What could have been’ reunion pic: Romney, Ryan family bump into each other in airport - March 10, 2014
• GOP battle begins; lawmakers jockey to replace Issa as House Oversight chair - March 10, 2014

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.