Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories (Hardcover)

by Herbert R. Kohl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In a bracing critique of children's books and U.S. public schools, prolific writer and educator Kohl observes that most children's stories emphasize success and personal autonomy instead of cooperation. Using as illustrative examples Jean de Brunhoff's Babar the Elephant and Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio, in which he detects tacit support for sexism, racism and colonialism, Kohl calls for a children's literature that will encourage thinking about solidarity and belonging to a caring group. Turning to civil rights leader Rosa Parks, whose heroic stance sparked the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, Kohl deconstructs children's books and texts that perpetuate the image of Parks as a poor, uneducated person who acted on impulse rather than moral conviction. He retells her story in a way that reflects the determination of the African American community. Sketching a history of progressive education in the U.S., Kohl offers stimulating suggestions for creating multicultural, humane schools that listen to the stories and needs of children and communities.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Kohl makes a strong case for including more radical politics in children's books. He is all the more convincing because he calls, not for "dreary uplift," but for great stories that tell of ordinary people as part of community. His appreciation of books such as Virginia Hamilton's classic Planet of Junior Brown (1971) proves his case. A thought-provoking essay criticizes biographies of Rosa Parks that present her as a cute, tired old lady rather than as an activist member of a civil rights movement. There are some strident moments here, but Kohl opens issues too often ignored in discussions of collection building, censorship, and children's reading. Hazel Rochman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 178 pages
• Publisher: New Press (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565842588
• ISBN-13: 978-1565842588
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,246,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Less about Babar and more an essay about the author's ideology, July 27, 2007

By	Sporn Sober "willimantic music" (Willimantic, Ct United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories (Paperback)

Kohl's basic argument is that our children are being brainwashed by literature that corrupts their minds through the stories that are told to them. He claims stories like Babar teach children that prejudices are OK. He also claims children will interpret Babar in a way that will "subtly" make them embrace colonialism.

Central to his point, Kohl talks about 'radical' literature and what is missing in children and adolescent books. His use of the phrase 'radical literature' comes off more as a declaration of his ideology than it does describe characteristics of good literature.

These are the 6 characteristics he says needs to be in a story for it to be considered 'racical'.

(1) The main part of the story involves a community/large group/racial class/union.
(2) The conflict involves the whole community/class/racial group.
(3) Collective action is involved based on equity.
(4) There must be a known enemy who has abused power.
(5) The story focuses on unity of the people.
(6) There is not a happy ending.

That is just a summary of the 6 points. Within each of his criteria there is DETAILED criteria -- in essence, criteria within criteria. His definition of radical, which is about as specific as levitical law, becomes so narrow he is only able to find 2 pieces of literature to use as examples. Kohl cites one of these authors whose inspiration came from the likes of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. These are not exactly people who have good reputations of doing good for others.

Besides Babar, other books on Kohl's hit list include Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Twain's "Huckleberry Finn."

I find his fundamental argument to be flawed. He says, "...books whose content is shaped by stereotypes that the author accepts and prejudices the author manifests." If an author has content that includes stereotypes it does not mean that the author is endorsing that characteristic nor is it encouraging his/her readers to go out into the world and become bigots.

Kohl takes 200 pages, including a 30 page deconstruction of Pinocchio, to make his point which could have been successfully done in a 10 page article.

The bottom line is that if you start analyzing literature through his 6 points you are going to end up on a witch hunt like he does and find 'subtle' messages in everything. What is this book about? It is about the author's socialist/marxist ideology. It is certainly not about what makes good literature.

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I had a kid in school, I'd wish Herb Kohl was her teacher, August 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories (Paperback)

Stories do affect us. We carry around memories of them for years, and their impact on our social behavior is immense. Kohl challenges us to look carefully at the books and stories we select for our children and at the messages, both overt and subtle, that they contain. Should be read by all caring parents (and teachers too!)

14 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The last reviewer didn't read it, November 20, 2002

By	J. F. Rick "bricoleur, hobbit" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm sorry, but the quality of Amazon reviews needs to be a bit higher. The last reviewer obviously hasn't read the book, but has only made a comment of what s/he assumes is in the book based on the Amazon review. The reviewer should be ashamed. I'm willing to forgive the people who thought that was a helpful comment as they may not have realized that the reviewer had not read the book. That's why I am writing this review. Herbert Kohl is a great writer and these essays are informative and sensible. Don't be fooled!!!

The essay "Should We Burn Babar?" is actually a quite thought-provoking and even-handed review of the issue of what ideas kids should have access to. Herbert Kohl may be a progressive educator, but he never advocates "political correctness" or bland literature. In fact, he argues against that approach to solving the problem. In the end, his conclusion is actually:

"I wouldn't ban or burn Babar, or pull it from libraries. But buy it? No. I see no reason to go out of one's way to make Babar available to children, primarily because I don't see much critical reading going on in the schools, and children don't need to be propagandized about colonialism, sexism, or racism. [p 28]"

The title may be a bit shocking, but his conclusions are mild and based on a good argument.