Manama: The Ministry of Education in Kuwait has pulled out eight books from its schools, saying they contained “inappropriate” ideas and illustrations. They did not mention further details.

The ministry made the move after it received complaints from several parents who cited concerns about the influence of such books on their children.

Ahmad Al Kindari, the head of libraries at the ministry, said in a note to all schools there had been observations and calls by parents about the books even though they had been endorsed by the inspection teams, Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas reported on Tuesday.

“We are taking out the books because we are keen on honouring our pledge to assuming our educational role,” he wrote. “We will review the books at a later stage.”

One book, ‘Memories Are Chasing Me’ had already been pulled out and the other seven to be taken off the shelves are biographies of Picasso, Shakespeare and Cleopatra, Hayfa Confesses, Midnight Crimes, My Conversation with My Son, and My Conversation with My Daughter.

Last month, Saudi education authorities called for pulling out around 80 books from the shelves of libraries and learning resources centres in schools that promoted Muslim Brotherhood ideology.

Officials were given two weeks to remove the religious books that the authorities banned.

The list included works by religious authors Hassan Al Banna, Yousuf Al Qaradawi and Sayyed Qutb.

Al Banna was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt while Qutb, an Islamic theorist, was a leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s.

Doha-based Al Qaradawi, an Egyptian Islamic theologian who chaired the International Union of Muslim Scholars, had a regular religious talk show on pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, allowing him to reach out to millions of viewers. However, he often waded into controversy over fatwas and views.

In their note, the education authorities warned all schools not to accept any gifts of books or publications and to limit their resources to what the education ministry offered them.