Outrage?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

I have read The Hobbit to my daughter, and The Faraway Tree stories to both of them. The latter books, of course, have Elves, Goblins, Wizards, Witches and magic, but no religious context. Again, this doesn't concern me, because they set a good moral tone. The children and their friends in the Faraway Tree behave in a morally correct way (they do their chores, are concerned for the welfare of their parents and others and look out for each other) and "naughty" behaviour (for example, Ricks' greediness and Connie's spoilt behaviour) is shown to have appropriate consequences.

That is not to say that I am not alive to the possibility of the books influencing them in some way that I would consider wrong. For example, the children on occasion slip out in the middle of the night to visit the Faraway Tree in the Enchanted Forest. This was probably not an issue at the time Blyton wrote the books but I have no wish to encourage my children to be wandering around woods on their own at night, and so made sure that they understood that this was not something which they should ever consider doing.

I suppose this is an appropriate time to bring up a point I have always wondered about in your interest in Blyton, Spm. I never knew Blyton as a child and never had the books for my kids. In fact, I cannot recall seeing them in any of our children's bookstores. (But, having never heard of her, how could I look for her?)

To make a long story short (and it is somewhat related here), relatives who had spent some time in England donated a huge set of Blyton books to my daughter. We turned avidly to them only to be made very uncomfortable with the depiction of Blacks. (Can't recall which story now, but the pictures were part of what formed our negative opinion.)

Anyhow, as we were cleaning out things we decided to donate the set to our local school. The school wouldn't take them! Because of race issues.

Did you ever face this with your kids? Have you discussed the issue with them? (That is my favoured approach to books, not banning them.)

And I suppose I have to relate this to Tolkien. The discussion on this thread relates to banning/censorship based upon theological values. Are there other issues/topics which do justify banning? I know that when I read T.S. Eliot's The Book of Practical Cats, I am embarassed for Eliot in his depiction of oriental races. Or does only the theological issue raise horrifying possibilities?