Eric Metaxas—author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (Thomas Nelson), named the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Christian Book of the Year last month—has decried what he calls a vulgar parody of his latest children's book.

Released earlier this month by Akashic Books, Go the **** to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortés has become a best-seller, while parodying It's Time to Sleep, My Love, co-written by Metaxas and illustrator Nancy Tillman (Feiwel & Friends, 2008).

"It's all a bit bizarre, especially because the author(s) ... never admits it's a parody of my book," Metaxas wrote in a guest editorial for Foxnews.com. "But if you look at the two books for yourself, it's screamingly obvious."

While admitting the parody book is "funny and cleverly done," Metaxas said that "the idea that a No. 1 best-seller has the F-word in the title really does bother me. I'm almost flattered that this guy thought to parody my book—even if he won't admit it—but did he really need to use that word in the title?"

Metaxas, who has written parodies of children's books, said that he was concerned that "vulgarity has now officially entered the mainstream of our culture."

"I think we always have to ask ourselves: What kind of a culture do we want to live in?" he wrote. "Because if we don't think about that, and we don't have the guts to speak up in a gracious and civil manner, then things will inevitably continue to slide in the same direction. Isn't that obvious already? Do we really want these words on shelves for our kids to see?"

Click here to read Metaxas' full editorial.

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