The Story of Babar the Little Elephant by Jean De Brynhoff
Another controversial book in the eyes of some, I see Babar as a childhood book that I often read and watched the movies.It wasn't until this past time of reading it that I even remembered that Babar's mother is killed by hunters who also then chase him to try and kill him. His cousins also run away and he is often found remember his dead mother. Aside from a few of these very strong feelings the books carries, its not unlike our world today. Their is deaf and murder and crazy people running around and for our children to understand these things, having a story such as this about an elephant, I see it is as just another children's book that might also help children to understand death or animal cruelty, or just enjoy a good story,
I remember reading Babar books as a child! I also do not remember Babar's mother being killed. I think that children pay more attention to the illustrations then the overall message of the book. Because the book is similar to the world we live in, I feel that it would be appropriate to keep in a classroom. I think that the topic of death is something that students are aware of at a young age. Having animals as the characters also makes the book less of a controversy then if it was a human family.
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