I’m not quite sure what to make of the news that Wal-mart supermarket in the UK has pulled the book My Sister Jodie by Jacqueline Wilson because of a swear word.  OK, so that’s not surprising.  It’s the sort of thing that I’ve come to expect from Wal-Mart.  But the surprise comes from Random House who has agreed to edit the book and remove the offending word by changing one letter so that it reads "twit" instead.

The book has already sold over 28,000 copies with no complaint.  Here’s the response from Random House:

A spokesman for Random House Children’s Books said: "In the context of the character, we felt it was used in a way that accurately portrayed how children like Jodie would speak to each other.

"The book is aimed at children aged 10 and over, and we felt it was acceptable for that age range.

"However, in light of this response we have decided to amend the word when we reprint the book."

In the US, we don’t know Dame Jacqueline Wilson as well as they do in the UK, but she is amazingly popular there.  She has sold over 20 million books in the UK alone!  Which is another piece of this puzzle that makes Random House’s response all the more odd.

So what do you think?  What should Random House have done?  Is that word appropriate for books aimed at children over age 10?  Do powerful retailers have the right to ask for edits in books?