The classic American novel Of Mice and Men will no longer be studied at secondary schools from next September following complaints. John Steinbeck's book, published in 1937, has been a mainstay of English teaching for many years.
A number of mice have objected to the book, because it contains a harrowing depiction of mouse assassination at the hands of a man who appears to have undiagnosed and untreated learning disabilities.
A spokesman squeaked, ‘The book is a thinly veiled cover for mouse death porn. The book should be removed from libraries and schools, and banned from sale. The book is institutionalised anti-mouse propaganda of the worst kind. It just validates the unacceptable behaviour of Rentokil and the like, and all of mouse-kind will suffer.’
The school libraries association pointed out that there were alternative texts that covered animal demise in a more sensitive way, including Animal Farm, Bambi and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.