Jamie Oliver: Children’s book by British chef is withdrawn after criticism from Indigenous Australians

London Associated Press — A children’s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticised for causing offense to Indigenous Australians. The group criticized one of the fantasy novel’s subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.” In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offense and apologized “wholeheartedly.” “It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said. “With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.” Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is among a long list of celebrities to have put their names to children’s books, a trend that has been criticized by many children’s authors, who say they are being crowded out of their market. Oliver released his first children’s book, “Billy And The Giant Adventure,” last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.