Not long after a Dutch drugstore peddled a colouring book with Hitler and has it pulled in record time, a children’s book about Chinese dictator leader Mao Zedong has been published, aimed at children and that’s just fine, apparently.

As of this week, Dutch kids will have the opportunity to read about how much of a ‘great man’ Mao Zedong was, as ‘Let’s Read About Mao Zedong’ has been translated into Dutch as ‘Laten Wij Over Mao Zedong Lezen’. “Without understanding Mao Zedong, it will be very hard to truly understand the present China,” explained Lenard Wolters, founder and CEO of Dutch publisher Leonon Media.

The question is, are they going to tell Dutch children that Mao killed the equivalent of about three times the entire current population of the Netherlands? I’d bet if they did, kids will have nightmares for a long time. And if they ignore the atrocities he’s committed as the bloodiest dictator of all times, then they are lying to children and it’s propaganda.

Then a book about the good things Stalin did has to be next, right? I mean if Hitler and Mao have a book… Pol Pot? Mussolini? Franco? Mao Zedong is responsible for killing about 40-45 million people and possibly more depending on your source, by starvation, prison labour and executions.

I hope children learn the truth at some point.

(Link: globaltimes.cn, Photo by Adam Jones, some rights reserved)