'MOBY DICK'
Just saw an episode where Bud was assigned a book report on "Moby Dick".
But the book he used was a "kiddie" picture book, more suitable for pre-schoolers!
Maybe he's just too dumb or lazy to read the real novel?
BTW, I never liked Bud.
It's a running gag in the series that Bud is not too bright. In the episode I'm watching now, "Alligator Duel", Bud tells someone, "Sandy says Flipper is smarter than some people he knows". I couldn't help but think that Sandy was making a dig at Bud, and it went right over his head.
I thought the same thing about that book, but this show is all about happy, colorful visuals, and I'd say someone thought a colorful children's book looks better on camera than the sort you would expect a guy Bud's age to be assigned in school.
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"Oh, well" said Zanoni, "to pour pure water in the muddy well does but disturb the mud !"
They used an edition published by Grosset & Dunlap (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Bobbsy Twins, Tom Swift, et al.) in the 1960s, from a series of classic literature "adapted for children" and extensively illustrated.
And I'm sure you're spot on about the reason for using it!
The thing that gets me is that Porter says that "Bud couldn't have read the book in one day", when it's obvious that he could read the book in less than a hour, most likely.
But pretty much every episode of this show has plotholes in it. Actually, I think most TV shows have plotholes in nearly every episode, at least during the 60's and 70's, they did.