| Johnny the Walrus | |
| Author: | Matt Walsh |
| Illustrator: | K. Reece |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Children's literature |
| Publisher: | DW Books |
| Release Date: | March 29, 2022 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages: | 30 |
| Isbn: | 978-1-956007-05-3 |
Johnny the Walrus is a satirical 2022 children's picture book by American conservative political commentator Matt Walsh. The story allegorically compares being transgender and non-binary to pretending to be a walrus through the story of a child named Johnny. It was published by DW Books, a division of The Daily Wire.
In the book, Johnny is a boy with an imagination who dresses up as a walrus by using spoons as tusks. When "internet people" find out that Johnny enjoys being a walrus, he is forced to decide between being a boy or a walrus, and he is not allowed to change his mind.[1] The "internet people" also pressure Johnny's mother into feeding Johnny worms and taking him to a doctor with a saw, who suggests turning Johnny's hands and feet into fins.[2] Johnny's mother attempts to take him to a zoo to be with real walruses, but the real walruses do not like Johnny as he is not a walrus. The zoo also refuses to accept Johnny. Eventually, Johnny and his mother realize Johnny is a boy and that it's OK to play pretend while being yourself. They head home as Johnny pretends to be a bird.
Johnny the Walrus became the bestselling book in Amazon's LGBTQ+ category before Amazon recategorized it on December 10, 2021, to the Political and Social Commentary category. Walsh called the recategorization "an unconscionable attack on gay rights and a horrific example of homophobia and gay erasure."[3] GLAAD, an LGBT media monitoring organization, had previously called for Amazon to remove the book from its LGBTQ+ category. On the same day, Target removed the book from its online bookstore.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson called the book "hilarious".[4] Conservative news website TheBlaze called it "an effort to push back against radical gender ideology which defies biological reality."[5] Satirist Andrew Doyle, writing in UnHerd, praised the book for mocking the "indoctrination of the young".[6] LGBT news website PinkNews called the book "hateful" and "transphobic". LGBTQ Nation called the book "anti-transgender" and said that the book mocks transgender youth.