Pizza Hut promotes a book called Big Wig about a boy who dresses in “drag” clothes and wears a wig with supernatural powers thanks to his children’s reading incentive program BOOK IT!
RESERVE! is a reading program, sponsored by the pizza chain, aimed at children in kindergarten through sixth grade, or ages four through twelve. It awards a free pizza to a single topping if they are able to reach a monthly reading goal. Big Wig was promoted to the Camp BOOK IT!
The book Big Wig is a “wonderful read aloud [that] celebrates the universal childhood experience of dressing up and the confidence that comes with putting on a costume,” the reading program states on its website.
.@pizzahut sponsors a program that engages children in kindergarten through grade 6 to read books. This week, one of their suggested books is “Big Wig”. A book about a child who becomes a drag performer. pic.twitter.com/5FTQC5ubCo
— TikTok Libs (@libsoftiktok) June 3, 2022
Here are some pictures of the pride books that @bookitprogram Sponsored by @pizzahut recommended. https://t.co/5Ce5ctxUNy
— TikTok Libs (@libsoftiktok) June 3, 2022
Simon & Schuster, who published the drag-themed book, wrote on their website that “[i]n the spirit of Julian is a mermaidthis irrepressible picture book celebrates drag kids, individuality and self-confidence from the perspective of a fabulous wig!” Julian is a mermaid is another children’s book, written in 2018, that contains transgender undertones.
Promoted alongside Big Wig in the summer reading schedule, two other books with LGBT undertones coincided with Pride month, celebrated by the left in June. be amazing, written by Desmond Napoles, is about “the history of the LGBTQ community”, writes the website of Macmillan, which published the book. As John Nolte of Breitbart News wrote in 2018, Napoles, then 11, was filmed in a New York gay bar dressed in drag as he danced in front of adults.
The other book being promoted for Pride Month is Perfectly Pegasusalso published by Simon & Shuster.
On the BOOK IT! website, Big Wig and Perfectly Pegasus are specifically aimed at children in kindergarten through third grade, while be amazing is aimed at children from kindergarten to first grade.
Jonathan Hillman, who proudly promotes the book he wrote on his Twitter account, celebrated the book’s choice for Pizza Hut’s reading program, saying he “grew up doing Book It!”
Hooray! Thanks @pizzahut for featuring BIG WIG (and for MANY pizzas over the years 🍕). I grew up with Book It!, so it’s really special. And thank you @mychal3ts to share! 🌈 #Pride @LeviHastingsArt @SimonKIDS https://t.co/BgLBnwdqSQ
— Jonathan Hillman, author of BIG WIG ✨ (@jhillmanbooks) June 3, 2022
However, Hillman has received backlash from curators who point out that the book has perverted sexually suggestive undertones due to it being a story about a boy who dresses in drag.
During the last years #pizzahut had to close hundreds of restaurants. Maybe they should spend more time perfecting their pizza instead of preparing preschoolers to be drag queens? @mschlapp @JackPosobiec @kylenabecker
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 3, 2022
Why your Book It! program encouraging young children to become drag queens? https://t.co/q0hIu0Sbdd
– Mark Dice (@MarkDice) June 3, 2022
Pizza Hut joins a growing list of major companies promoting LGBT themes to children, including the Walt Disney Company, which has received fierce backlash from Americans for its leadership in promoting suggestive LGBT themes to children. children.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at@EthanLetkeman.
Breitbart