PARENTS have been sent an urgent safeguarding warning from schools after a URL inside some of the books in a popular kids’ series was found to link to an explicit website.
Andrew Cope’s Spy Dog books – aimed at children from 7 to 12 years of age – have been popular since the titular tome in the series was released back in 2005.
Schools have sent out an urgent warning to parents over a link in the back of some of the books in Andrew Cope’s Spy Dogs series[/caption]
The final, 12th book in the Spy Dogs collection was released in 2016.
A link on one of the back pages in some editions of the books encourages readers to “discover even more about Lara, Spud, and Star… at their OFFICIAL WEBSITE”.
But the URL – once a link to a companion website about the undercover spy dogs from the series – now takes users to a site of pornographic videos featuring children’s characters.
According to publisher Puffin, while the domain had initially belonged to author Cope, it had subsequently been acquired by a third party.
“We understand an unconnected third party has very recently taken control of the domain name and is using it to display a different website with inappropriate adult content,” Puffin said.
“This website is not associated with Puffin or Andrew Cope. We are asking people not to visit the website and ensure that children do not visit it either.”
Puffin – a subsidiary of Penguin Random House – added in a statement to LBC radio station that they “have immediately paused on the sale and distribution of the books whilst we deal with this matter”.
“We are currently working with retail and education and library partners to remove the books from shelves for the time being,” they continued.
They are now working to remove the website entirely, but called it an “in-depth and complex legal process” which “will take time”.
“We are taking this extremely seriously and are acting on this issue as a matter of urgency,” they concluded.
Schools throughout the UK have now been forced to send out urgent emails to parents warning them about the explicit link in some of the books.
Puffin is also working to pull the affected editions from bookshops and libraries.
It’s understood that as well as the Spy Dogs books, the link also features in some of the books in the accompanying Spy Cat and Spy Pups series – also written by Cope.
Puffin is now working to remove the affected books from schools, libraries and bookshops[/caption]
