Conservative Children’s Book Tops Amazon Charts

In the midst of a culture that regularly promotes ideological conformity through children’s books like I Am Jazz (a book about a ‘transgender’ child) and Antiracist Baby, one conservative author is fighting back—to great success. A children’s book that opposes transgenderism has been the number-one bestselling book on Amazon in the U.S., and it is selling out on their site internationally, including on Amazon.co.uk. 

Matt Walsh, podcast host for The Daily Wire, recently released Johnny the Walrus. It is the tale of a little boy named Johnny who loves to imagine. One day, he imagines himself to be a walrus, but his community tells him he really is a walrus! The story is a clear allegory for the pressure on children to identify as ‘transgender’ and be permanently sterilized. However, it is not a merely reactionary book motivated by political aims. Instead, it hopes to instill in children a love of imagination and a willingness to stand up to peer pressure. The author has posted a video of himself reading his book to a group of children.

Amazon, the world’s largest bookseller, has a history of suppressing and removing books that are critical of transgender ideology, and Target removed the book from their online store in December. While Amazon has yet to cease selling Johnny the Walrus, it did hold a group session for employees to deal with the “trauma” of the book’s success. In the session, employees repeatedly (falsely) claimed that the book was aimed at causing ‘trans’ children to commit suicide. This is despite the fact that hormone treatments and ‘gender reassignment surgery’ have not been shown to lower the likelihood of suicide.

Matt Walsh is no stranger to controversy. The author was previously suspended from Twitter for Tweeting the following:

The greatest female Jeopardy champion of all time is a man. The top female college swimmer is a man. The first female four star admiral in the Public Health Service is a man. Men have dominated female high school track and the female MMA circuit. The patriarchy wins in the end.

Walsh, like many others, is profoundly concerned by the wave of gender dysphoria and ‘transgenderism’ that is sweeping the West, and he believes that it is harmful to young people.

Walsh’s upcoming book, What is a Woman?: One Man’s Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation, will deal with similar issues to his children’s book, though it is both non-fiction and written for adults. It has also found success, reaching the number one spot on Amazon’s “Women’s and Gender Studies” category. Along with the book, The Daily Wire will be releasing a documentary on the same subject in May. 

However, there are signs that Amazon has begun to take action against Walsh’s next book. The company has already disallowed ads for the book on the grounds that it is “not appropriate for all ages.” The company is nevertheless willing to host ads for children’s books that promote puberty blocking hormones for minors and explain that some girls can get erections.

Only time will tell how Amazon will deal with the situation and whether an alternative bookselling platform will arise that is more supportive of voices that dissent from progressive orthodoxy.