Not Nazi, just nice ... Peter and Jane.
"We're not a bunch of Nazis," says Adrienne Small, which is reassuring, I suppose. She claims the Daily Mail are "sensationalising a story for Middle England" - well, some people would claim it has on occasion been know to exaggerate - and that despite its Orwellian name, the Happy Endings Foundation is just "trying to generate discussion". But there's something about putting the word "bonfire" next to the word "book" that generates a little more heat than you might expect.
It all started back in 2000, when Mrs Small's daughter - now 17 - started reading Lemony Snicket.
"She became morose," remembers Mrs Small, who soon discovered that the books were "an epic in how to get depressed in one easy lesson". According to Mrs Small the problem is not just the unfortunate events of the titles, but the whole world view of the series.
"They are really depressing. Children," she continues, "read books at night before they go to bed. I know from my own children that they get hung up on the news, always asking questions like 'Am I going to get stolen?' or 'Is there going to be a war here?' so it's good if they can read something which gives them a sense that all will be well before they go to sleep."
She and a group of like-minded parents started the foundation as a "bit of fun". There are now 11 "cheering committees" throughout the UK, and a website - tagline "sad books are bad books" - with recommendations for "happy days out" and foundation-approved tomes.
Mrs Small is keen to stress that the foundation is not "Pollyanna-ing everything", pointing out that one of the books on the recommended list is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, "hardly a straightforward tale of sweetie factories". She also agrees that fiction can be a good place for children to work through anxieties in a safe environment. It's just the grim endings of some children's books that make her cross.
She's also anxious to clarify - pace the Mail - that the foundation isn't suggesting that these books should be banned, or that parents are wrong to let children read depressing books. "It's down to the individual," she says. "If you say 'don't do that' then it's akin to them having a cigarette behind the bike sheds - it makes it more attractive." She is just trying to "encourage more discussion".
Which brings us back to the book burning. Mrs Small promises to "take the thing about book burning off the site".
"I apologise for that," she says, "because it isn't what we're about at all. We were just suggesting that for Bonfire Night you could chuck a few onto the fire if you were short of kindling." The foundation hadn't made the association with Nazi cultural purges at all. Now instead of burning sad books ("bad books", remember) the foundation has set up a couple of webcams broadcasting images of two "courageous gerbils" helping to "rid the world of sad books". "I don't think there were any Nazi connections with gerbils," explains Mrs Small.
She insists that although they're "having a bit of fun", it's not just a joke, and confirms that she has given up her job to spend more time on the campaign.
"We're not a bunch of Mary Whitehouse look-alikes with sensible shoes," she says. "We're just normal people ... apart from the third eye in the middle of my head."
