Russia Labels British Children’s Books About Dinosaurs and Birds as “Extremist”

St. Petersburg customs officers have intercepted a shipment of children’s books imported from the United Kingdom, labeling educational materials about bird behavior, space puzzles, and dinosaurs meeting Santa Claus as “extremist literature,” The Moscow Times reported on May 6.

Based on photo and video materials released by the customs press service, the seized products belong to the British children’s publisher Usborne. Footage of the confiscated goods reveals seemingly harmless titles, including the holiday story The Dinosaurs Who Met Santa Claus, a book on bird parenting titled Eggs and Chicks, a puzzle collection called Space Puzzles, a toddler’s board book, and the anatomy guide Very First Questions and Answers: What’s Inside Me?.

According to customs officials, the total shipment weighed 12.7 tons and was valued at 140,000 pounds sterling ($175,000). Authorities reported finding 28 specific books in English and German that allegedly contained “extremist content.”

The agency claimed that a state “expert assessment confirmed that the seized products contain prohibited information,” though they notably failed to specify what exactly triggered the extremist classification in the children’s literature, The Moscow Times wrote.

The shipment was ordered by an unnamed Russian company that specializes in educational materials and foreign-language books. Authorities have opened an administrative case against the carrier for violating customs restrictions. The legal entity now faces a fine ranging from 50,000 to 300,000 rubles ($660 to $3,970), alongside the permanent confiscation of the goods.

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The targeted publisher, Usborne, has a tense history with the Russian state. Citing the investigation posted by the outlet Agentstvo, The Moscow Times noted that Usborne was explicitly mentioned in a 2023 Russian Book Union report as a publisher that unequivocally refused to cooperate with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Despite the official corporate boycott, Usborne’s books have continued to circulate on Russian e-commerce marketplaces and bookstore websites via parallel imports, The Moscow Times notes.

While Russian customs officials seize innocent Western children’s books under the guise of combating “extremism,” the state is simultaneously mass-distributing highly violent, militaristic propaganda to schoolchildren. According to recent reports, Russian schools are now holding mandatory classes for students in grades 5 to 9 using new state-approved comic books that glorify participants in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In contrast to the banned educational books about birds and anatomy, these government-backed graphic novels feature vivid illustrations of detached limbs and dead soldiers. Furthermore, many of the “heroes” presented as role models in the 720,000 distributed copies—such as figures involved in the capture of Ukrainian Mariupol city and atrocities in the Kyiv region—are officially accused of war crimes by Ukraine and the European Union.

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