quote:
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has apologised for causing offence with a children’s book following criticism from Australian Indigenous organisations.

Oliver, best known for his TV cooking programmes, authored the book, which was published earlier this year. Titled Billy and the Epic Escape, it is a sequel to Oliver’s children’s debut Billy and the Giant Adventure, and features illustrations by Mónica Armiño.

One of the story’s subplots concerns a young First Nations girl fostered by an Indigenous community in Australia. She is kidnapped by a villain, who says that “First Nations children seem to be more connected with nature”.

The Indigenous girl tells the English protagonists that she is able to read minds and communicate with animals and plants, describing it as “the Indigenous way”. The character is ostensibly from Mparntwe in Alice Springs, but uses vocabulary from Gamilaraay in New South Wales and Queensland.

Indigenous organisations within Australia have strongly criticised the book, and called for Penguin Random House, its publisher, to pull it from shelves...

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/jamie-oliver-book-australian-first-nation-apology-b2644244.html