Its pretty clear for some time that the Gnomes are targeting our human children: cookies with friendly-seeming gnomes (sometimes mis-labeling themselves as "elves") meant to appeal to the young; cutesy-poo cartoons and books with "friendly" gnomes, that case those boys in Colorado cracked about the underpants-thefts, etc.
I am not sure that this is exclusively for the purpose of just early training in the idea that gnomes are innocuous; I think it could be something more.
Also, who knows in what other ways the Gnomes are responsible for the corruption of our youth? It was recently reported, for example, that children today are more likely to own a cellphone than to own a book.
That's deeply shocking, particularly given that cellphones are clearly part of a Gnomish plot.
RPGPundit