Maria Butina, photo: Telegram
Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin ordered an inspection of the books of children's writer Grigory Oster after an appeal from State Duma deputy Maria Butina. Kommersant writes about this.
It became known on April 21 that the Investigative Committee would begin checking Oster's works after a meeting of the agency's coordinating council. A statement from the Investigative Committee said that participants in the meeting pointed to the presence in Oster's books of "attitudes that are questionable from a pedagogical point of view."
As Kommersant found out, at this meeting Butina presented a report titled "Destructive Content in Children's Literature as a Risk Factor for Juvenile Delinquent Behavior." In it, she paid special attention to Oster's children's books, as well as his anti-war statements.
In Butina's opinion, the writer's work contains a "destruction of the child's moral foundation under the guise of humor and upbringing." As an example, she cited a quote from the book "A Visual Aid to Mathematics": "Fourteen children were learning to swim. Three of them still do not know how to swim, and two have already drowned. How many children have already learned to swim and have not yet drowned?"
In addition, the deputy was outraged by "The Cannibal's Book of Tasty and Healthy Food" and the story collection "School of Horrors," which mentioned a "suffocation table" in which "the suffocated are multiplied by the suffocated."
Butina also stated that Grigory Oster's book "Bad Advice" "legitimizes cruelty." As proof, she cited a poem from it: "Beat frogs with sticks. It's very interesting. / Tear the wings off flies, let them run on foot. / Practice daily, and a happy day will come / You will be accepted into some kingdom as the Chief executioner".
Butina's presentation says that the writer's work contains a "normalization of death," "violence against parents," and "mockery of animals." She called for Oster's books to be removed from free access, for an "unscheduled inspection" of his works to be carried out, and for its results to be sent to the Ministry of Education and Roskomnadzor.
Bastrykin supported this initiative. On his instructions, employees of the central office of the Investigative Committee will conduct an inspection of Oster's work.
The AST publishing house emphasized that Oster's books have been published for more than 30 years, and that "more than one generation of readers has grown up" on them. It also said it was ready to provide "all necessary information and expert opinions" if official requests are received from supervisory authorities.
Grigory Oster, photo: AST
Grigory Oster is a Soviet and Russian writer, author of the children's book "Bad Advice." In addition, he wrote scripts for the cartoons "38 Parrots," "A Kitten Named Woof," and "Gotcha, the One Who Bit." In February 2022, Oster spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and left Russia.
In May 2024, the prosecutor's office of Krasnoyarsk Krai demanded that Grigory Oster's book "Bad Advice" be removed from sale in one of the stores because of the illustrations. The book was destroyed. Later, the agency described the whole story as "speculation".