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NEW YORK, Nov 27, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A New York judge denies he's making an anti-immigration statement in his illustrated children's book about a greenhouse overrun by dandelions.
Critics of "Hot House Flowers" contend the tale of dandelions killing off beautiful flowers is a thinly-veiled anti-immigration screed, The New York Daily News reports.
Author John Wilson, a Brooklyn criminal court judge, says the critics are wrong about the focus of his book.
"It's intended to describe defense of home and defense of country and the reasons for that defense," says Wilson, who published the book himself.
Wilson says he was inspired to write it because he couldn't find a book for his 4-year-old son that discussed big issues in a way a child could understand.
"Hot House Flowers" tells of jealous weeds that hog all the water and soil in the greenhouse while the other flowers remain silent because they don't want to appear intolerant.
"They shouldn't call me anti-immigration, because I'm not," Wilson says. "But illegal immigration is making a mockery of the rule of law."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
