May 14, 2012

A letter from a parent…

Filed under: News — Jeff @ 8:38 pm

A father sent this e-mail (through the company that made the documentary about me).

I answered it as honestly as I could.

Here is the letter:

Jeff,

My youngest son, Devan is 9 years old, and has been an admirer of  your books for a while. He wrote a letter to you and didn’t know where to send it. So I told him I would find an email address and email you his letter.
As his parent, I feel he is too young to have an email address, so here it is.
Dear Jeff Smith,
I don’t mean to offend you, but I do not like it when you swear in your book “Bone” Back from Boneville.
I just want to tell you that I do not believe in swearing.
To tell you the truth, I love your “Bone” books because they are interesting and funny, but I do not like the book when it swears.
Once you are done reading this note, please remember to try and write back.
Devan.
Here is my letter back to Devan:

Devan,

Thank you for taking the time to send me a letter about my comic book Bone.

I’m very glad you like the stories and characters. And I’m sorry the characters used language you didn’t like.

Sometimes what a grown-up thinks is ok, might seem different to a nine year old, so I really appreciate you letting me know.

Personally, I believe some of the mild language that the characters used was very tame and I would have a hard time even calling it swearing, but that’s all right, too – - not everybody has to agree about everything, right?

What is important is that you told me how you feel, and I appreciate that.

Thanks again for writing!

best,

Jeff Smith

****

(The picture at the top is of some original art pages from Bone #1 from my collection)

5 Comments »

  1. Great letters! And hey– I don’t recall any swearing in Bone. Where can I get the profanity laced versions?! (laughs)

    Comment by Brandon — May 16, 2012 @ 2:54 am

  2. The only mild swearing I can think that happens in the book is when Lucius says “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” to Phoney when they start riling up the villagers about dragons to win the bet. And even that is extremely tame. I’m glad it’s in the book, I think too often the books kids read underestimate their intelligence. Conflict like the bet between Lucius and Phoney, leading to Lucius’ choice of words, are part of what makes Bone feel realistic despite its fantasy setting.

    Just my opinion!

    Comment by Sean — May 16, 2012 @ 2:12 pm

  3. [...] Creators | Jeff Smith responds to a letter from a 9-year-old reader who doesn’t like the swearing in Bone. [Boneville] [...]

    Pingback by Comics A.M. | WonderCon still hoping for return to San Francisco | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment — May 17, 2012 @ 9:55 am

  4. When is the final issue in hebrew coming out. are there any more bone books coming out?

    Comment by Aviel — June 10, 2012 @ 9:29 am

  5. Not to mention, there was a bit in the scholastic version where Lucius said “you better not crap around”…which I admit I chuckled at.

    But he should be grateful that Phoney’s little incident with the swimming contest in the lake that he accidentally filled with sewage was not put into the Scholastic versions…which I completely cracked up at when I read one of the original issues…I’ve only got five of them and it made me want to track down the others to see what else was changed or removed.

    Comment by K.M Kunkler — June 10, 2012 @ 5:10 pm

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