Controversial George Washington slave book pulled from shelves

Scholastic is pulling a new picture book about George Washington and his slaves amid objections it sentimentalizes a brutal part of American history. "A Birthday Cake for George Washington" was released Jan. 5 and withdrawn on Sunday after it was strongly criticized for its upbeat images and story of Washington’s cook, the slave Hercules, and his daughter, Delia.

While we have great respect for the integrity and scholarship of the author, illustrator and editor, we believe that, without more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn.

Scholastic statement

Sunday’s announcement comes amid an ongoing debate about the lack of diversity in publishing, although the collaborators on “A Birthday Cake” come from a variety of backgrounds. Ramin Ganeshram is an award-winning journalist and author born to a Trinidadian father and Iranian mother and has a long history of food writing. Copies of the children’s book were not easy to find even before Scholastic’s decision. In a Scholastic blog post from last week, Ganeshram wrote that the story was based on historical research and meant to honor the slaves’ skill and resourcefulness.

How could they smile? How could they be anything but unrelentingly miserable? … The answers to those questions are complex because human nature is complex. Bizarrely and, yes, disturbingly, there were some enslaved people who had a better quality of life than others and ‘close’ relationships with those who enslaved them. But they were smart enough to use those 'advantages’ to improve their lives.

Author Ramin Ganeshram

Americas George Washington