Shilpa Shetty Sparks Twitter Storm with her Animal Farm Recommendation

Shilpa Shetty is a rather wonderful Bollywood actress, brilliant at what she does and quite rightly much admired for her prowess in the field of acting, but it seems that a reader she is not.

When hearing about the plans for schools in India to include books such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in the curriculum Shilpa told the Times of India that she thought that the novel was a wonderful way of teaching children how to look after animals. Twitter wasn’t kind in informing her of her mistake.

She started so well saying that “I think having books like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter as part of the syllabus is a great move because it cultivates imagination and creativity at a young age,” however when recommending Little Women she may have got the plotline a little wrong “I think books like Little Women would also encourage respect towards women at a young age.” and then came the literary faux pas that has everyone offering up their own #shilpashettyreviews with this recommendation for Orwell’s dystopian allegory for the rise of Stalinism Animal Farm which should be included in curriculum reading as  “Even a book like Animal Farm should be included as it will teach the little ones to love and care for animals,”

Here is how Twitter responded:

Perhaps something to encourage their artistic talents?

Or to teach the the importance of good manners.

Of course, we musn’t forget our children’s mathematical skills.

Then there are books for those who want to pursue an agricultural career in their futures.

A self help book for those who suffer with embarrassing flatulence issues.

The perfect How To guide for future Off Gridders.

Something to teach our little ones the consequences of forgetfulness.

A little something for train aficionados who have more than a passing respect for health and safety laws.

A few helpful Tweeters reminded Shilpa that not all books are suitable for schoolchildren.

Of course we do not advocate cyberbullying but it seems that these suggestions were all tongue in cheek and were greeted by Shilpa in the manner they were intended to be received, as a gentle ribbing rather than anything cruel.

Thank you for making us smile Shilpa and keeping on being amazing at what you do.