tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4699060219815282949.post4684993946153105826..comments2023-04-07T14:39:53.565-07:00Comments on Boyz Read: THE STORY OF FERDINANDGREGORY WALTERShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08059330265523106450noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4699060219815282949.post-85280160341600814832011-09-06T17:34:45.676-07:002011-09-06T17:34:45.676-07:00I love your comment, David. Thanks for stopping b...I love your comment, David. Thanks for stopping by the blog. I have no problem with the character of Ferdinand. I do have a problem with the story of Ferdinand. That sword that the matador carries "to stick the bull last of all" is to kill the animal for the sake of entertainment. I did a quick check on Wikipedia and that is still what happens to the bull, whether before the cheering spectators or behind the scenes afterwards. Lucky Ferdinand gets away. That is a storybook exception, a fanciful piece of fiction.<br /><br />There are many other books that celebrate differences without a bloody sport as the backdrop. I think it is time for The Story of Ferdinand to be put out to pasture. Surely there are other books parents can pass on to their children.<br /><br />Obviously, not everyone shares my opinion as the book remains a favorite.GREGORY WALTERShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08059330265523106450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4699060219815282949.post-65241680939998432852011-09-05T12:33:21.573-07:002011-09-05T12:33:21.573-07:00i guess this begs the question of all classics, an...i guess this begs the question of all classics, and whether/when they are no longer relevant. personally, i could do without BABAR's imperialism, and there's something about MADELINE that still bothers me...<br /><br />but what these books have, and what they offer, is an opportunity for parents to connect the trait of reading to children as an experience passed-down. they are the connection with the past, with the oral story-telling tradition, with a cultural through-line. these stories, tropes, and rhythms that spring from classics are a certain cultural heritage, and where they contain larger ideas of questionable merit (bullfighting in this case) they also contain a more relevant (to a young reader/lap-sitter) story about being quiet and meditative and without a stigma of being bullied or having to take a stand. ferdinand is who he is, like leo leoni's FREDERICK, and that's a fine, simple, and still rare moral-free message in picture books these days.david elzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16653215150526146224noreply@blogger.com