A coloring book depicts scenes from 9/11 and the killing of Osama bin Laden. Its publisher has given it a PG rating, saying children 10 and younger probably should use it with adult supervision. But some Muslims believe "We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids' Book of Freedom" is inappropriate for any child because it reinforces anti-Muslim stereotypes.Wayne Bell, publisher of Really Big Coloring Books Inc., said the 36-page "graphic novel" should help meet a demand by parents and teachers to explain the attacks and their aftermath as the 10th anniversary of the attack approaches.
The book begins with bin Laden planning the attacks and ends with a Navy SEAL shooting bin Laden as he hides behind a Muslim woman. Bell said the book is tame compared with video games.
Bell said, "It's a generic black-and-white coloring book with tender language for the children and their parents. It's designed as a teaching and learning tool, and it's a memorial tribute to the families of 9/11."
But Amina Sharif, communications director for the Chicago chapter of the CAIR, said the book depicts the events in a "slanted" way, painting Muslims in broad strokes and not distinguishing extremist radicals from the majority of Muslims.
Sharif said, "It's hateful, inflammatory and completely inappropriate for children or anyone for that matter."
Bell said the book simply depicts the facts: Muslim extremists were responsible for the attacks.
"The book itself has nothing to do with the Muslim faith. It talks about the radical Islamist jihadist Osama bin Laden and his 19 terrorists and what they do to America," Bell stated.