9/11 Children's Workbook: Offensive or Respectful?

Aug. 10, 2006 — -- It's hard to create anything commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks without stirring up some degree of controversy.

The 9/11 memorial's design and construction were bound to be controversial, given the emotional delicacy of the subject.

Oliver Stone's new movie "World Trade Center" seems designed to be controversial.

Tara Modlin, a former competitive skater and the founder of the 9/11 Families Give Back Fund, which raises charity money with an annual celebrity ice skating show, says she was caught off guard, however, by the response to her free 9/11-theme activity book.

The book -- which includes trivia questions, word games, and a connect-the-dots picture for school kids -- is raising eyebrows for potentially trivializing the terror attacks as the fifth anniversary approaches.

Modlin says people who find the coupling of word games and the 9/11 attacks for children over age 4 a bit presumptuous for a nonprofit aren't getting the point of the exercise.

"They don't understand what we're trying to do," she said. "We are trying to inspire kids to ask questions of their elders. That's all that we can ask for. In kids' terms, you can say there were two important buildings in New York. And we are emphasizing the many, many heroes, and that thousands were saved. We are trying to focus on that."

The connect-the-dots exercise, when completed, reveals the pre-9/11 New York skyline. A word puzzle is solved to reveal answers like "Giuliani," "Taliban," and "George Bush."

A math quiz exposes some of the curiosities of the number 11.

"After 9/11/01, people noticed relationships between the number 11 and the attacks."

For instance, Question 2 points out that Sept. 11 has nine letters and two numbers. Add them up and you get 11. Question 3 points out that Sept. 11 is the 254th day of the year -- 2+5+4=11.

Sure, the kids are doing a little addition, but the numerology may be suspect.

The purpose of the 9/11 Families Give Back Fund is "to maintain awareness of the 9/11/01 tragedy among current and future generations of young Americans via the creation and distribution of age-appropriate booklets and other publications, as well as through the production of special events," according to a statement in the activity book.