When Stephen Colbert penned his children's book spoof, I Am A Pole (And So Can You!), in 2012, he probably wasn't envisioning young kids toting it in their backpacks to school. But that's just what happened with Kelly Ripa's young son Joaquin, she told Colbert on The Late Show Wednesday night.
"I have a bone to pick with you about a book you sold on our show," Ripa began, referring to Colbert's 2012 appearance on Live! to promote the book. Apparently, her 9-year-old son Joaquin, who has dyslexia, asked if he could take the book to school with him the next day for the teacher to read aloud to the class. And since I Am A Pole looks like a perfectly innocent kids book, Ripa told him to go ahead.
The problem is, the tome has a couple of pages that might be, erm, problematic in an elementary school setting. "He sends it back to me and says, 'The teacher wouldn't finish reading the book,'" she explained. "I think I know why," Colbert laughed. The book is about a pole looking for his identity in the world. And at one point, the titular pole interns as a stripper pole. As you can imagine, the teacher decided to stop reading the book at this point. She sent a polite note home to Joaquin's parents (Kelly and hubby Mark Consuelos) about the funny snafu.
But Ripa remains a big fan of Colbert the illustrious children's author. "I have to say, this happens to be the greatest children's book of all time," she said. "This is still the greatest school memory we have."
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