Andrew Stiles of the Washington Free Beacon takes aim at a new book promoting America’s most famous COVID scold.
Sometimes a book’s mere existence has an eminently greater cultural significance than its content. Such is the case of Dr. Fauci: A Little Golden Book Biography. The 24-page illustrated work, billed as “an inspiring read-aloud for young children,” does not exist to entertain America’s toddlers, but rather to soothe the secular souls of Millennial parents whose mental and emotional well-being have steadily deteriorated since November 8, 2016. It belongs in the adult “self care” section with a disclaimer urging prospective buyers to seek help.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a career bureaucrat who rose to national prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is merely the latest liberal icon to be featured in a Little Golden Book. The children’s series dates back to 1942 but has only recently started targeting the aforementioned demographic of #Resistance nerds. Recent subjects include Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2020), Kamala Harris (2021), Betty White (2021), Sonia Sotomayor (2022), and Beyoncé (due out in 2023). Other titles are dedicated to more conventional religious figures such as God, Jesus, and Barack Obama.
This is the second children’s book published about the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The authors of Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor got their product to market in June 2021, when President Joe Biden’s approval rating was still comfortably above 50 percent. Theirs is “the definitive picture book biography” of Fauci, who contributed a section outlining his “five tips for future scientists.” Tip number one—”Keep an open mind. Science is discovery, which means that from the beginning, you don’t know what the answer is. Leave open all the possibilities of what you might find”—is arguably more honest and sensible than anything he’s ever told American adults about COVID-19
