September 06, 2006
Does That Seem Right To You?
Last evening I found myself reading The Deer In The Wood to the Four Year Old. For those of you unfamiliar with it, this is one of a series of preschool versions of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. They typically have extremely simple and minimalized plots and are, I suspect, enjoyable to the kiddies primarily because of the art work.
Anyhoo, in this particular book, Pa announces that he's going to go out and shoot a deer for meat, the family having been on nothing but biscuit for some time. He climbs a tree with his rifle and waits. After a bit, a buck comes by but Pa decides the animal is too handsome to shoot. After a bit more, a doe and fawn come by. This time Pa decides that they are too lovely to shoot.
Finally, Pa goes home empty-handed, reasoning to himself that the deer should be allowed to live in peace because they're so nice and, after all, biscuit is good enough for his family.
Now. I admit that it's been something like thirty years since I read Little House In The Big Woods, but I can't conceive that the real Pa Ingalls would have done something quite so Disneyish as to forswear shooting deer altogether, especially because he realizes how cute n' cuddly they are. Pioneers who indulged in that kind of fantasy would quickly become what is clinically known as dead from starvation. There must be more to the original.
I don't especially object to the Little House series being mined for materials to serve up to the pre-kindergarten crowd, but at least it had ought to be plausible.
Posted by Robert at September 6, 2006 11:31 AM | TrackBackI remember reading Little House in the Big Woods when I was around six or so, and they butchered a hog! They made headcheese!
Somehow I wasn't put off by this, even at age six.
Posted by: GroovyVic at September 6, 2006 11:42 AMA couple days ago I read a review in the NYT of the movie adaptation of How to Eat Fried Worms. The reviewer slammed it because the story involved male bonding centered on torturing animals (i.e., frying worms), and said explicitly that there was no real difference between frying a worm and stomping a puppy to death. This, despite the fact that the movie features a disclaimer assuring nutcases like her that no earthworms--sensitive creatures that they are--were harmed in the making of the picture.
I'm not a conspiracy-minded guy, really, but sometimes this revisionist brainwashing is so relentless that it's hard not to feel that it's deliberate.
Posted by: utron at September 6, 2006 12:02 PMIn the book, Pa, while sitting in the tree, makes a list of all his male, patriarchal crimes, and decides that he is so guilty, he can only make up for it by hanging himself.
Yay! Roast Pa!
Posted by: The Colossus at September 6, 2006 12:12 PMAnybody that thinks deer are too lovely to shoot hasn't: 1)Had to pay several thousand dollars to repair a car after Bambi became a hood ornament 2)tried to have a decent garden with a flock of deer running rampent in the neighbor hood 3)eaten nothing but biscuits for more than a week 4)tasted my venison stew.
No difference between killing earth worms and puppies. Man that helps to clear the conscience quite a bit doesn't it.
Heh.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at September 6, 2006 12:37 PM{...}but I can't conceive that the real Pa Ingalls would have done something quite so Disneyish as to forswear shooting deer altogether, especially because he realizes how cute n' cuddly they are.
Pa Ingalls, no. Michael Landon, yes.
Posted by: Kathy at September 6, 2006 12:41 PMAh, I recall even in my tender yoot believing that Landen and Victor French, who played Mr. Edwards, should have been cast the other way round.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at September 6, 2006 12:48 PMBumbi's Mom is more realistic.
Posted by: capitano at September 6, 2006 09:31 PMI loved the Little House books themselves, still even as an adult.
Simplistic and minimalized, these "preschool" versions do take away quite a lot from the stories themselves.
I still say the best early reading book is "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman. Drama, humor, contrast, comparison, and more! :-D
Posted by: keysunset at September 7, 2006 09:11 AM
Image courtesy of the lovely and talented 