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Rating: 
Summary: A great book--inspirational and thoughtful
Review: As an author/illustrator of children's books and an avid reader, I found this book a great source of inspiration--it will also be a wonderful guide for parents who are concerned about the rampant but often undiscussed stereotypes present in much children's literature.
Rating:
Summary: A great book--inspirational and thoughtful
Review: As an author/illustrator of children's books and an avid reader, I found this book a great source of inspiration--it will also be a wonderful guide for parents who are concerned about the rampant but often undiscussed stereotypes present in much children's literature.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Kid's Book, Not a Bible for Isms
Review: I like Herbert Kohl and his theory of 'creative maladjustment'. He's a persuasive author. But I do believe this book misses the whole point of Babar: learning to get along in a child-dom of the imagination not a real kingdom in the feudal/colonial sense! Nor do I feel the author of Babar is portraying colonialism as a good thing. The author created a setting -- with the look and feel of the historical/cultural India -- and a story for children as children, not a parable or case study for college students. It's up to parents and teachers to explain that colonialism is a bad thing of the past. As for critical reading, that starts at about age 10-12, past the age of the target audience for Babar. There is a time and a place for learning everything. As a child, I appreciated Babar simply for what it was -- I had no notions of "isms" of any kind. The De Brunhoffs are not indoctrinating children; they are simply entertaining them. Every adult puts things in terms children can understand -- literary, cultural, historical, geographic, religious, animal, fairy tale. Kids will grow up and learn the isms for what they are, and will invent new ones. It's interesting how Mr. Kohl sidesteps the issue of book censorship by telling people not to buy the books, making the title provocative and misleading. Does Mr. Kohl discuss "Huckleberry Finn" in his book? (It mentions the n- word.) I can't recall. Currently I am reading a lovely book co-authored by Mr. Kohl and Colin Greer, "The Plain Truth of Things." I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: The last reviewer didn't read it
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: If I had a kid in school, I'd wish Herb Kohl was her teacher
Review: 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!)
Rating: 
Summary: The author is caught in the polically correct mindless fad.
Review: The fact that Babar is a King probably confused Mr. Kohl into thinking that he is a "colonialist" and exploiter of the masses. On the contrary, if one reads "Babar the King" it is evident that Babar's tribe is cooperative and works much on the lines of an Israeli kibbutz. All the members appear to contribute to the work and the benefit from the proceeds. As Marx says, "From each his capabilities, to each his needs." If anything, I would say that Babar is a socialist. All Babar has to do is instate consensus decision making to make his new community a truely socialistic state, but then the books would never get published. My only criticism of Babar is that the books are not environmentally sensitive, but then, they were written in the early 60's.
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