This book, by Hugh Lofting, is part of the WILDLY POPULAR Dr. Dolittle series that has been loved by children of all generations. Or so they say, anyway. So anyway, I loved the original Dr. Dolittle book, which is what made me excited to pick this one up because of my Newbery Award winners obsession.
(Oh, gross... I just have to put in that as I'm writing this I'm watching an episode of America's Got Talent online, and... oh, this is disgusting. There are way too many freaks in America. And of course they all come out of the Pacific Northwest... who in their right minds thinks it's okay to, like, have sex in a giant hoop suspended from the ceiling on national TV? I am ready for Andy to come back into town so I can watch So You Think You Can Dance again. *Shudder*)
Anyway, this book was fun. Okay, I mean. I couldn't figure out why I didn't love it as much as I liked the original Dr. Dolittle book. (Freaks... the hoop screwers went on to Vegas... I think I will die of horror shortly.) Then I got to the end and read the afterword... turns out the family/publishers of Hugh Lofting were re-evaluating these manuscripts for reprinting for some major anniversary or something. I didn't pay too much attention. I never pay attention after I've been annoyed a bit. And I was annoyed. Bottom line is, they didn't want to "offend possible readers" in this new "pc society" so they toned down a lot of that language from the last century that might be a misunderstood by today's readers. So, here's what I think of that.
IDIOTS!! Honestly, I know this is a kids' book, so you want to be careful what you put in front of them. But we're not talking about dropping f-bombs or anything. Words like that were horrible then as they are now, and Hugh Lofting certainly isn't going to throw language like that out in front of kids. But there are certain words that the meaning of which have changed a bit over time, and while they were benign then they might be questionable now. For example: Negro. Currently questionable. At the time of writing, the proper term for a human of African descent. And boob. As in, "Silence, you boob!" Currently a word that makes kindergartners giggle. At the time of writing, a benign synonym for idiot, dumbard, fool, stupid, stupid person.
So these are not horrific, horrifying words. And my thought is, if a child is mature enough to read a 300+ page book, a child is mature enough to be discussing language with their parents. As in, "Mommy, what does Negro mean?"... thus opening a door for Mommy to do some serious discussing with kidlet about racism, bigotry, stereotypes, history, war, civil rights, just to name a few. I mean, come on, people, what is literature for if not to educate minds and create discussions about issues? Certainly books are for entertainment- I'm the first one to say I don't want to learn a lesson but to be entertained by a book. (And nothing is more entertaining than the mental picture of an Indian chief screaming to his subjects, "Silence, boobs!") But literature that sticks should stick for a reason. It should be something that you can find deeper meaning in- even literature for kids. Now the only thing for kids to ask their parents after reading this is, "Mommy, what's a pushmi-pullyu?"- thereby introducing a FABULOUSLY intellectual discussion about giant submarine sized glass snails, parrots that are fluent in 117 languages (as well as being physics geniuses), and a floating island that rests on the back of giant whales. Yeah. THERE'S something that will enrich the darn kid for the rest of their lives.
So my gripe is, why should this book be called a Newbery Award winner if the book I'm reading isn't even the original book? Calling this book an award winner is like putting star shaped pasties over the nipples on a Titian and still calling it a masterpiece. Get over yourselves, publishers... keep Dr. Dolittle fun.
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