Biff, Chip And Kipper Book Pulped Amid Racism Accusations

A Biff, Chip and Kipper book has been axed amid accusations of racism.

The Oxford Reading Tree series - which is also now a CBeebies TV show - has been used in primary schools across the UK for decades, helping millions of children to improve their reading skills.

The books - written by Roderick Hunt - follow the three titular characters and their dog Floppy, with a magic key taking the group on exciting adventures in other worlds.

However, one story in particular raised eyebrows due to its apparent Islamophobic undertones and has now been pulped.

Oxford University Press

The book in question - called The Blue Eye - sees the pals transported to what appears to be a Middle Eastern market, bustling with men in head scarves.

At one point, Biff says: "Let's stay together. The people don't seem very friendly here."

A character called Wilf adds: "I don't know where we are, but I don't like this place. It's scary."

The book was initially published in 2001 and was pulled last month after people questioned its suitability on social media.

One teacher wrote: "Just seen this being shared on Facebook. Wow, am I right to think this is inappropriate?!"

Another added: "This is Islamophobia. As someone who was really fond of the Biff, Chip and Kipper stories as a child. This is just so disappointing."

Oxford University Press (OUP) said it regularly reviews and updates its stories to ensure they remain 'reflective of the world we live in'.

Oxford University Press

In a statement shared with LADbible, OUP said: "Biff, Chip, Kipper, and Floppy the dog have been helping children learn to read – and love to read – for more than 30 years. Their stories have been read by 30 million children around the world.

"The title in question - The Blue Eye - was originally published in 2001 and amended in 2012; the last sentence of text on the page in question was changed to read: It would be easy to lose each other in such a crowded place. 

"The book was taken out of print completely in March this year, following an independent review, and is no longer available to purchase.

"OUP destroyed its own remaining stock of the book, although a small number of copies may still remain in the supply chain; some older titles may still be available in libraries, or as second-hand copies."

The statement continued: "At OUP, we regularly review and make changes to our list of titles to ensure they are up-to-date, diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the world we live in, and we take steps to remove any products that are no longer appropriate from our collection.

"We also continuously listen to feedback from our customers, and we take our responsibility to learn and improve very seriously.

"We have invested and are investing in our team's development to create more inclusive content and are working with experts on all diversity and inclusion characteristics to drive improvements on existing and new content/titles."

Topics: UK News, Education, Books

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey