Jamie Oliver’s latest children’s book barely made it onto shelves before being pulled over the weekend following complaints from a First Nations educational body over cultural insensitivity and trivialisation. The British celebrity chef’s second children’s book, Billy and the Epic Escape, includes a sub-plot set in Alice Springs in which the novel’s villain abducts a First Nations girl living in foster care in an Indigenous community. According to the book’s publisher, Penguin Random House UK, no consultation with any Indigenous organisation or individual was undertaken before publication.
While some are satisfied with the withdrawal of Jamie Oliver’s Billy and the Epic Escape, others question how it was published in the first place. Credit: Instagram (@jamieoliver) “Penguin Random House UK publishes this work and takes responsibility for the consultation, or what we would call an authenticity read of the work. It was our editorial oversight that this did not happen.
It should have, and the author asked for one. We apologise unreservedly,” a spokesperson said. Oliver was unavailable for comment.
Angie Faye Martin, a Kooma/Kamilaroi novelist and sensitivity editor, said it was a significant oversight that no Indigenous organisations, communities, or individuals were consulted. “Often, strengthening just one or two areas of weak representation elevates the entire story,” she said. There is no universal industry standard for consultation before a book’s p.
