söndag 14 augusti 2016

Vilka ord och uttryck kan man egentligen använda med barn? ”Donald Trump”? Engelsk språkövning

Varje förälder måste någon gång sätta sig ned och förklara ett svårt ord eller två för sitt barn. Till frågan om vad som är en barnbok respektive inte, vill jag idag citera Chicago Tribunes Rex Huppke (27/6-16): 

A time will come this year, and possibly in the years that follow, when parents of young children have to sit their offspring down and answer a difficult question: What's a Donald Trump? 

Having "the talk" about the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee won't be easy, but it's necessary. You want your kids to hear about him from you, not from other kids at school or, worse yet, from the omnipresent and omniperfidious man himself.

Why does the orange man want to build a wall? I thought bragging was bad manners? How come he keeps calling people stupid? That's not nice!

If you're a Trump supporter, the talk will be considerably easier, consisting largely of: "HE'S THE MAN WHO'S GONNA MAKE US ALL RICH AND MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN AND SEND SHILLARY CLINTON TO PRISON!!" After which you pat the child on his or her bright-red Trump 2016 hat and get back to blogging about how many people the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has murdered with her laser eyes.

But if you're wary of Trump and his rhetoric, you have to gently explain to your child why the man who's constantly on the television is saying what he's saying. To that end, writer, comedian and actor Michael Ian Black has given all Trump-concerned parents a useful tool: A Child's First Book of Trump."


I en berättelse i antropologisk ton om arten Americus Trumpus, som utkom på USA:s nationaldag 4 juli-16, tar den judiske komikern och författaren Michael Ian Black upp ”T-ordet”.


Förlagets Simon & Schusters egen beskrivning av boken lyder: 


What do you do when you spot a wild Trump in the election season? New York Times bestselling author and comedian Michael Ian Black has some sage advice for children (and all the rest of us who are scratching our heads in disbelief) in this perfectly timely parody picture book intended for adults that would be hysterical if it wasn’t so true.

The beasty is called an American Trump.
Its skin is bright orange, its figure is plump.
Its fur so complex you might get enveloped.
Its hands though are, sadly, underdeveloped. 

The Trump is a curious creature, very often spotted in the wild, but confounding to our youngest citizens. A business mogul, reality TV host, and now…political candidate? Kids (and let’s be honest many adults) might have difficulty discerning just what this thing that’s been dominating news coverage this election cycle is. Could he actually be real? Are those…words coming out of his mouth? Why are his hands so tiny? And perhaps most importantly, what on earth do you do when you encounter an American Trump?

With his signature wit and a classic picture book style, comedian Michael Ian Black introduces those unfamiliar with the Americus Trumpus to his distinguishing features and his mystifying campaign for world domination…sorry…President of the United States.



Black (ursprungligen Schwartz) säger sig aldrig ha mött antisemitism förrän nu. Han har ”outats” som ”judisk terrorist”…


Bilder ur boken A Child’s First Book of Trump finns på


Hör författaren själv (till illustrationer) läsa texten ur A CHILD'S FIRST BOOK OF TRUMP, som han säger är ”a celebration of the American political process”, på



På förlagets webbsida finns även mängder av läsarrecensioner. En sådan lyder:

the best way to kill a Trump is turn off your TV, because "A Trump loves to dine on hatred and violence / It cannot endure a moment of silence." It also provides some practical life advice about moving to Canada.

"Now, where does it live? On flat screen tvs! 
It rushes towards every camera it sees. 
It thrives in the most contentious conditions. 
And excretes the most appalling emissions." 

Even better, if you're looking for a book to explain Trump to young children, you could simply use the pictures and provide your own words. The words themselves are kind of like Shrek. There are layers. You could read this to a child, and simply not explain what "size of his manhood" might mean. 

Or not. You could just treasure this and occasionally take it out to hug while you weep about the status of the country and reflect on just how it came to this. 


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