"We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom" – Education or Hate?

We are just days away from the 10th anniversary of the day that changed America.

September 11, 2001, started off bright and beautiful for America, just as any other day. However, before the day really got started good, that bright and beautiful day turned into a very dark day.

Two thousand, eight hundred and nineteen people lost their lives that day. (The official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819)

As each year passes, as a nation, we risk the very distinct possibility of losing the significance this day had on our nation. If you were not old enough to realize what was happening on that day, and the months that followed, you have a very different understanding of how it changed this nation.

For those who were old enough to realize the reality of what we saw on our televisions, there is no way time can erase the emotions that were experienced when those planes flew into the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and crashed in the Shanksville, Pennsylvania field.

We’ve all heard the quote by poet and philosopher George Santayana:

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

For those who do remember the past, the importance of educating those who do not remember the past is vital! Though they cannot remember, if we do not teach them what happened, we have no hope for the future.

Wayne Bell is someone who understands the importance of educating our children about the reality of what happened that fateful September morning almost ten years ago.

Mr. Bell is the publisher of Really Big Coloring Books, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri. He has created a unique way to teach older children about the terrorist attacks on our nation with a coloring novel. It’s not just a coloring book, and it is not meant for younger children. Mr. Bell says the coloring novel is for children about the age of 9 to 11-years-old.

“We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom,” is a memorial tribute. Mr. Bell says:

“It is an informational piece to help educate children on events on 9/11. [It is] a simplistic, honest tool.”

Mr. Bell goes on to say that the novel is a “12-hour narrative of the events that happened on the day that forever changed America.” Kids can color pictures of the twin towers, President George W. Bush, Americans mourning the attacks, and other significant images depicting that day.

It’s hard to believe that an educational book could cause so much controversy, especially when it is something so important, but that is indeed what Mr. Bell is facing with his coloring novel.

It should not come as a surprise to anyone that in our day and age where political correctness outweighs the facts so often, there are many people who do not want reality to be presented.

In fact, Dawud Walid, the Michigan representative for CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations), calls the novel “disgusting.”

“We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom,” refers to the jihadists as “freedom-hating radical Islamic Muslim extremists.” Mr. Walid is not happy with the fact that almost all of the mentions of Muslims also have the words “terrorist” or “extremist.”  He feels that by only portraying the extremist side of the Muslim religion, a disservice is being done to all Muslim Americans who were impacted by 9-11. Mr. Walid says:

“Little kids who pick up this book can have their perceptions colored by those images … it instills bias in young minds. Muslim mothers lost sons too.”

Mr. Walid also argues that the information and pictures in the novel are incorrect. One instance he says is incorrect is that Osama Bin Laden “wasn’t hiding behind a wife when he was shot.”

However, Mr. Bell disagrees, saying the book is an “honest depiction.” He went on to say:

“The truth is the truth. It’s unfortunate that they were all Muslim and that’s the part people want to erase … I don’t know what else you can call them.”

Mr. Bell appeared on Fox & Friends this morning. The full interview can be seen here:

Purchase “We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom

“These acts shutter steel but they
cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”
President George W. Bush

__________
Source:
911 By The Numbers