There's a Hair in My Dirt - GH Library Books

The book There’s a Hair in My Dirt by Gary Larson is available to 10-18 year old children through the GHAPS school libraries at White Pines, Lakeshore Middle School, Grand Haven and Central High School. The copyright of this book is 1999, so it has been in the GHAPS library system for a long time, and at least one parent has complained about this book in the past. Although I would personally not object to 12 year old children reading this book some people may. One issue is that this science book contains sexual references, and although nothing in comparison to some of the books that have been reviewed on this site, is en early example of material with sexual content creeping into the school libraries.

This book is a picture book, comedy about science. A father worm tells his son a story about a beautiful young maiden named Harriet. Harriet loves nature, but doesn’t understand nature. Throughout the story, the author points out the deviousness of some creatures, and Harriet unknowingly does several things that are harmful to creatures.

For example, Harriet witnesses a colony of ants carrying eggs back to their nest. Although Harriet thinks the ants are taking good care of their babies, the author points out that this species specializes in the enslavement of other species. In another instance, Harriet finds a tortoise but mistakes it for a turtle. She throws the tortoise into the middle of the pond and it drowns. A final example that may be disturbing to some readers is when Harriet declares “Oh, Mother Nature! What a sex maniac you are!” after seeing a field of flowers.

This book takes an odd twist on science by incorporating a weird sense of humor. A GHAPS parent complained about this book at least one time in the past. That parent was given copies of reviews from the credentialed professionals and never heard from again. Unfortunately, that parent found a controversial book in the school library, alerted school officials to the fact that some students may be disturbed by the book, and the school did not want to take any action regarding the book.

Amazon sets the target reading age for this book at 12-15 years old. Children who have a difficult time distinguishing real verses imaginary, and children who are emotionally sensitive towards nature may find this book disturbing. This book does have the potential to be disturbing to some readers. This is an example of a book that should rated and perhaps require parental permission before young children have access.