(JTA) — Scholastic Inc. apologized for publishing a map of the Middle East that omits Israel in a popular children’s series.
On Wednesday, hours after the Times of Israel reported about the Israel omission in “Thea Stilton and the Blue Scarab Hunt,” the book publisher in a statement on its website said it was stopping shipment immediately of the title, revising the map and reprinting the book.
The book, part of Scholastic’s “Geronimo Stilton” series, was published in June 2012. It tells of a journalist mouse who travels to Egypt to participate in an archaeological excavation.
“We regret the omission which was in the original version of the book published in Italy and was translated by our company for English language distribution,” the statement said.
Under the comments section, readers thanked Scholastic, and asked how the mistake could have passed through editors and proofreaders. Some complained about the vitriol shown by some commenters and offered their full support to Scholastic.
“What bothers me most are these questions: what about the books already sold? What exactly caused Scholastic to react?” one reader wrote in the comments section.
Several booksellers’ websites as of late Thursday were allowing the purchase of the book, new or used.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
