The mufti, after quietly greeting the animals and inviting them into his mosque, soon changes into a fanatic who gathers a shouting Islamic mob that holds up the animals and condemns them to damnation.
At the end of the book, the hedgehog says, "I think that God doesn't even exist." Even if he existed, the character says, he doesn’t live in a synagogue, a cathedral, or a mosque.
Gunnar Schedel, the head of the book’s publisher Alibri, said the publisher was aware the book could provoke controversy.
"It's clear to me that putting a critique of religion in children's bedrooms is a hot political topic," Schedel said, according to Deutsche Welle.
He said the book was intended for non-religious parents who want to provide their children with a critical view of religion.
"All three religions are treated equally in the book," Schedel said. "No one is negatively singled out."
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Author Michael Schmidt-Salomon responded to the controversy on his website. “I don’t ridicule religions, they are ridiculous all by themselves,” he wrote, claiming children have a “right to enlightenment.” He denied that he was anti-Semitic, claiming he had been cursed and threatened because of his Jewish-sounding name.
“So I claim the right for myself to openly criticize those Orthodox Jews, as well as fundamentalist Christians and Muslims, who are struck by divine madness. This naturally has nothing to do with anti-Semitism,” he wrote.
The German department that reviews children’s literature is scheduled to discuss the book at a March meeting.