The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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HC apologises to Aborigines

04.09.08

HarperCollins has apologised for offending indigenous Australians after complaints that an upcoming edition of The Daring Book for Girls breaks Aboriginal taboos by encouraging girls to play the didgeridoo, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Mark Rose, head of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association, said the publisher made "an extreme faux pas" by including a chapter on how to play the Aboriginal musical instrument in its Australian edition. Traditionally, women do not play the didgeridoo.

The Australian version of The Daring Book for Girls will be released in October.

HarperCollins said yesterday (3rd September) that the chapter will be removed at the next printing, reports the Telegraph. "HarperCollins Publishers apologises unreservedly to any aboriginal Australians who were offended by the inclusion of instructions on how to play the didgeridoo in the forthcoming publication The Daring Book For Girls," the publisher said in a statement. "HarperCollins will replace this item when the book is reprinted as clearly we had no intention to offend."

Daily Telegraph

HarperCollins Books Australia Global