WE BELIEVE THAT THE CHILDREN’S ART + LITERACY FESTIVAL (CALF) SHOULD PROMOTE MORALITY AND PROTECT OUR KIDS!

For a quick summary of this story, KRBC covered it pretty fairly and you can watch the 2.5 minute video above.

We believe that the controversial “Kitty-Corn” book series should not be memorialized in Abilene’s Storybook Gardens. This book, whether known or unknown to Abilene City leaders and to the Children’s Art + Literacy Festival (CALF) leadership at the time of its choosing, is one that “child-groomers” use to desensitize kids to the natural resistance they feel to accept and believe queer ideology.

In our culture, the line of what is permissible keeps getting pushed beyond what is clear, and has gotten to the point of deception. A lot has been said about this subject, this character, and this book. Lets review the conversation:

WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING (PINK TEXT BELOW are links to sources):

  • “What ostensibly starts out as an almost criminally cute tale of pretend play transforms into something much more: a celebration of claiming and naming one’s identity and having it affirmed by others.” Publishers Weekly review of Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn
  • “It is imperative for parents, concerned citizens, and elected officials to shift to an offensive posture to safeguard the innocence and lives of children from the adults seeking to abuse and manipulate them to serve their own sexual, gender, racial, and political ends.” Statement from Center for Renewing America

WHAT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR ARE SAYING:

  • In response, after Abilene citizens asked to have a less controversial statue memorialized in Abilene, Lynn Barnett solicited a letter from the illustrator which was read by Lynn at the Visuals Arts Jury Meeting on 10/12/2023, and the illustrator wrote: “How could anyone with any common sense read the book…in any negative way?…Any person with a modicum of sense and three minutes to read a picture book would have to agree with me” LeUyen Pham (”Kitty-Corn” Illustrator)
  • The author describes how “Gecko” and “Parakeet” in Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn are the not-well-liked, insensitive truth-speakers in the story reminding kitty who she really is and that she can’t be a unicorn. From Children’s Book Review: Growing Readers Podcast,
  1. 1. “Gecko” and “Parakeet” originally were thought of as being Kitty’s parents & siblings, but she said that it seemed too mean, real, and personal to make those voices come from the parents and family. We believe that the author/illustrator is saying that parents are the typical people who challenge a child’s belief in being something outside of the boundaries of reality.
  2. 2. “Gecko” and “Parakeet” are not overtly the family, bur rather written be a sort of “Greek Chorus” role in the story. They are a less personal, collective voice of reason.
  3. 3. Kitty is a stand-in for kids, and she wants to have a different identity than the one she was created with. – Paraphrase of interview from Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn author, Shannon Hale and Illustrator, LeUyen Pham.

WHAT THE ABILENE CITY COUNCIL IS SAYING:

  • On October 26, 2024, after two Visual Arts Jury Board Meetings (meetings which had never historically been publicly attended prior to the attention garnered by this sculpture), the Abilene City Council voted 6-1 to move forward with the proposed sculpture and ignore the public’s request to choose a less controversial character from the illustrator’s catalogue of over 120 books.

WHAT WE ARE SAYING:

  • Activists have been gradually and subtly grooming our children for years VIDEO SOURCE LINK, and this cute “Kitty-Corn” character is exactly the sort of tool they are using to use to desensitize kids to the natural resistance they feel to accept and believe queer ideology.
  • TransStudent.org shows us the “Gender Unicorn,” a well-known tool used to expose children to queer theory ideology that teaches children to divide themselves into five aspects (identity, expression, assigned sex, physical attraction, emotional attraction), an ideology that the biblical worldview rejects.
  • Let’s not be naive and dismiss the connection between the unicorn and the queer community! As innocent as it seems, Itty-Bitty Kitt-Corn is not safe for our kids, and does not deserve to be added to Abilene’s legacy! Watch this video episode of a YouTube series that confirms this connection. VIDEO SOURCE LINK
  • “Unicorn Homes” is a program that provides transitional housing to homeless & displaced LGBTQ youth. SOURCE LINK

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

  • We need books that teach truth and less books that open the door to kids being deceived.

IN CONCLUSION:

We feel that the illustrator would be no less-honored if one of the other popular characters from the illustrator’s catalogue of more than 120 books had been considered instead. If it was, then the legacy of Abilene’s Storybook Gardens would be preserved and the children attending the CALF in 2024 would be protected from the deception and controversy surrounding “Kitty-Corn.”

  • The CALF and the City of Abilene should not join in or be used to promote a cultural agenda that harms our kids! VIDEO SOURCE LINK (**warning, some vulgar language on the speaker’s coffee cup)
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