Johnny the Walrus

2022 children's book by Matt Walsh

978-1-956007-05-3

Johnny the Walrus is a satirical 2022 children's picture book by American conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. The story allegorically compares being transgender and non-binary to pretending to be a walrus through the story of a child named Johnny.^[1] It was published by DW Books, a division of The Daily Wire.^[2]

Summary

In the book, Johnny is a boy with an imagination who dresses up as a walrus by using spoons as tusks. When "internet people" find out that Johnny enjoys being a walrus, he is forced to decide between being a boy or a walrus, and he is not allowed to change his mind.^[1] The "internet people" also pressure Johnny's mother into feeding Johnny worms and taking him to a doctor with a saw, who suggests turning Johnny's hands and feet into fins.^[2] Johnny's mother attempts to take him to a zoo to be with real walruses, but the real walruses do not like Johnny as he is not a walrus. The zoo also refuses to accept Johnny. Eventually, Johnny and his mother realize Johnny is a boy and that it's ok to play pretend while being yourself. They head home as Johnny pretends to be a bird.

Reception

Johnny the Walrus became the bestselling book in Amazon's LGBTQ+ category before Amazon recategorized it on December 10, 2021, to the Political and Social Commentary category. Walsh called the recategorization "an unconscionable attack on gay rights and a horrific example of homophobia and gay erasure."^[1]^[3] GLAAD, an LGBT media monitoring organization, had previously called for Amazon to remove the book from its LGBTQ+ category. On the same day, Target removed the book from its online bookstore.^[3]

Fox News host Tucker Carlson called the book "hilarious".^[4] Conservative news website TheBlaze called it "an effort to push back against radical gender ideology which defies biological reality."^[5] Satirist Andrew Doyle, writing in UnHerd, praised the book for mocking the "indoctrination of the young".^[6] LGBT news website PinkNews called the book "hateful" and "transphobic".^[5] LGBTQ Nation called the book "anti-transgender" and said that the book mocks transgender youth.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Migdon, Brooke (December 9, 2021). "Amazon bestseller compares being trans to pretending to be a walrus". The Hill. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Soper, Spencer; Ceron, Ella (June 25, 2022). "Amazon Staff Demand Ban of Books Calling Transgender People Mentally Ill". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Midgon, Brooke (December 10, 2021). "Amazon recategorizes book comparing being trans to pretending to be a walrus". The Hill. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Bollinger, Alex (December 9, 2021). "Best-selling LGBTQ book on Amazon is an anti-transgender picture book". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Wakefield, Lily (December 9, 2021). "Amazon lists hateful, transphobic book as number one 'LGBT+ best seller'". PinkNews. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
^ Doyle, Andrew (May 17, 2022). "How to stop children being indoctrinated". UnHerd. Retrieved May 21, 2022.