The renowned author of 36 Children and, more recently, "I Won't Learn from You" and Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment turns his attention to children's literature and the power of stories in education. The title essay raises the question of what to do with a charming and compelling though politically and morally offensive text. In "Rosa Was Tired," Kohl points out the subtle racism inherent in the usual telling of the Rosa Parks story. Kohl provides close readings of well-known children's stories, highlighting instances of racism, sexism, and condescension. He provides strategies for detecting bias in other works for young people and offers powerful ideas for better ways to tell children stories.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Kohl advocates that we teach children how to question the underlying cultural assumptions of what they read.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 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
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Less about Babar and more an essay about the author's ideology,
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.
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A book with meaning,
By
This review is from: Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories (Paperback)
This is a great work of literary criticism because it is actually relevant to our lives. Herbert Kohl's starting point is, what do we do about sexist, racist or undemocratic children's literature that is deeply rooted in the American cultural tradition? Should we censor these stories from our impressionable youth? Should we just ignore them? Or do we confront them and disentangle their reactionary ideologies from their beloved storylines?Kohl's critique of Babar--the classic children's book about an orphaned Elephant who becomes king--is both well thought out and thought-provoking. The story of Babar does not tell us that colonialism is good or that certain men deserve to rule over others. Yet these ideas come across subtly through the story. They influence discreetly the way in which children think (or better yet, do not think) about how the world works or should work. Although he drags on a little long to make his point, Kohl's chapter on Rosa Parks is perhaps his best, most important contribution. Here we have an example of an incredibly important event in the struggle for equality and justice in recent history terribly distorted throughout children's literature. The gross over-simplification of the Montgomery Bus Boycott ("Rosa was tired. She wouldn't move. Blacks boycotted for a year and then got equal rights.") is fairly well-known. But what is really mind-boggling are the examples of recreating the history of the Boycott, by some educators and publishers, to make it more palatable to notions of political correctness. Thus, we have the inclusion of many white Southerners in the Montgomery struggle, though in reality this was a wholly Black-initiated and -led struggle! Herbert Kohl's plea for radical children's literature has resonated deeply in my bones, even if his own awkward examples have not. (He needed a stronger editor.) Once again though, he has woven history, philosophy and personal biography into a powerful volume on education.
17 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The last reviewer didn't read it,
By
This review is from: Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories (Hardcover)
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.
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