A Children’s Book Is Causing a Political Scandal in Baltimore. It’s Quite a Tale.

What has become a full-blown political scandal in Baltimore started innocently enough. In fact, it began with a children’s book.

Mayor Catherine Pugh, a fitness fanatic, said that about a decade ago, she was inspired to encourage children to pursue healthy lifestyles, and so she created the “Healthy Holly” series of books, about a little girl devoted to self-improvement and the betterment of those around her.

At the time, Ms. Pugh, a Democrat, was a state senator who sat on the board of one of the state’s largest nonprofit health care companies. In what seemed like a happy ending, she struck a deal to sell 100,000 copies of the books to the company for $500,000.

But now, the arrangement has become public, raising questions not only about the propriety of the arrangement, but also about just how many children had access to the books.

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