Both authors make the point as to what stories like this can do to how young minds see the other. Second, Babar has no experience that would make him a good king other than having lived in a 'civilized' city. “Was I aware of those distinctions as a child? Did I learn to admire the rich from reading the book? Did I also learn about the inferiority of creatures from the jungle (people included)?"ĭorfman, perhaps the most outspoken critic, has made similar arguments in his book: The Empire’s Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to our Minds. First, Babar's mother is killed by a hunter, but at the end of the book when Babar sets up his perfect elephant society, the idea that a human can come in a shoot a citizen is never addressed. Becoming king of his people isn't always easy for Babar the elephant, but his patience and determination always help him to win the day. When his mother dies, Babar decides to seek his fortune in the big city. This is the story of Babar the Elephant and his travels. "In Babar the reader learns that there are different classes of people and the Rich Lady is of the better class and that elephants are not as good as people, but might be if they imitate people,” Kohl writes. A charming classic picture book following the adventures of Babar the elephant. Kohl is the author of Should We Burn Babar? In the book, he makes several valid points demonstrating how Europeans, and Babar now Europeanized himself, are made superior to the other animals in the jungle. Herbert Kohl and Ariel Dorfman make the most notable arguments against Babar, stating he is nothing more than colonialist propaganda.
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