MUMS told of their shock after spotting a gruesome passage about Jack the Ripper in a popular kids’ book.
A page in ‘Whoosh Around the Mulberry Bush’ features part of a report in which gobsmacked parents can make out the words ‘throat cut’ and ‘prostitution’.
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Mums told of their shock after spotting a gruesome passage about Jack the Ripper in a popular kids’ book
Jack the Ripper, an unidentified serial killer active around impoverished Whitechapel in London in 1888, is said to have killed five victims Credit: Alamy
One blasted: “Some of the sleuths in the comments have worked out it’s not an autopsy but taken from a passage about Jack the Ripper or the Boston Strangler, which makes sense.”
Kimberley Mills, observing the collage depiction of a flower, said: “That’s so creepy.”
Mum Jodi joked: “Someone might wanna check that author’s hard drive lol.”
The colourful page shows insects crawling around a garden with the words, ‘Here we go round the flower bed on a sweet smelling morning’.
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One of the leaves on the flowers is made up of an article appearing to depict the crimes of Jack the Ripper – an unidentified serial killer active around impoverished Whitechapel in London, in 1888, who is said to have killed five victims.
Model mum Katie Green piled in online after discovering the inappropriate text in her child’s book.
She said: “Hi OxUniPress, why does my infant son’s book contain a sinister passage about Jack the Ripper?”
Jan Omerod’s 2007 hit ‘Whoosh Around the Mulberry Bush’, illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner, starts with children dancing before showing animal capers, including hens pecking around a chicken coop, monkeys swinging around jungle vines, polar bears and arctic hares sliding around icicles and zebras kicking their heels around a waterhole.
The text can be sung to the rhythm of the kids’ song, ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’.
Oxford University Press told The Jattvibe they take the “integrity of our children’s publishing very seriously and appreciate having this brought to our attention”.
A spokesperson said illustrations in the book, which is no longer in print, “use a range of collage techniques and any perceived links to specific texts or references are unintentional.”
