Guest guest Posted August 6, 2002 Report Share Posted August 6, 2002 As an interesting aside, the Little House were banned in a school district near me because of racism towards Native Americans in the books. It's especially interesting because we live very close to Walnut Grove, one of the towns they really lived in and wrote about. Personally, I hate censorship even of the most horrible things. I would have preferred that they used it as an opportunity to study racism towards native people & learned from it. As it is, there are just a bunch of annoyed, self-riteous parents complaining about the liberal schools banning their beloved books to be PC now. As for objectionable or cruel parts like those mentioned, one idea might be to simply skip it while reading aloud. It depends on if you think the rest of the books are worth it. Also, I think one reason I was such an empathetic child was from reading things that were hard to read. I don't know if it was worth the emotional trauma, but books like _A Day no Pigs Would Die_, _Charlotte's Web_ and _A Little Princess_ were moving books that were well written, but it was the painful parts that really shaped me. I really felt for the characters. But I'm sure that the biggest reason I was sensitive was that my mother was, so I don't know if there was that much that resulted from the books. It's just an interesting thought that I struggle with now as a parent-- balancing wanting my kids to be exposed to things that may be hard but will shape their character and wanting to protect them from any pain. The same struggle comes up when I teach my kids why I'm vegetarian. Victoria (4) says she likes the taste of meat and wants to keep eating it. I've tried to explain that I liked it too but won't eat it because of what happens to the animals. I told a little bit about veal and how good people say it tastes (not mentioning the death but taking the baby away from the mama and kept in a cage) and my 2 year old started to frantically cry for the baby cow. I hadn't realized my 2 year old was listening. I don't want to traumatize my kids so they'll adopt my beliefs, but I want them to realize just what meat is. This whole issue is a work in progress for us. Can anybody recommend any picture books that explain to kids about vegetarianism? TIA and sorry for rambling so much! -- Alicia A Magical Childhood http://www.magicalchildhood.com " The best way to make children good is to make them happy. " - Oscar Wilde Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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