Little House in the Wrong Thread

[Neto]

Approach 2: Keep an eye on what your children are reading of course, but engage with them, probe their thoughts and what they are learning. Make them think about the hard questions, and trust them to come to their own conclusions. Which they are going to do anyway. And read challenging books together. This takes a LOT more time and effort. But it is also a matter of priorities. I read some pretty dense books together with my girls when they were young and we took time to talk about them. You only have their attention for a short amount of time when growing up. Make the most of it. If you talk intelligently to them when they are 10 then are much more likely to keep talking to you when they are 17 and struggling with more adult issues. If you don't talk to them and constantly engage them when they are young, don't expect them to start when they are age 17 and thinking about the opposite sex. By then it is far too late.

This. Interaction has to start before you think it is "necessary".

[Grace]

It is amazing how easily offended modern man is. Basically, no book is appropriate for children except some modern book like “Heather Has Two Mommies”.

When our children were little they loved Moody's dramatized stories. "Ranger Bill". But later Moody was accused of being offensive and insensitive to Native Americans in the Character, Gray Wolf, who spoke a little different.

[QuietlyListening]

My children enjoyed Ranger Bill, Odyssey from Focus on the Family and Jungle Jam and friends. Every Saturday- we didn't let them watch cartoons and they really enjoyed these radio programs.

People seem so quick to judge things rather than listen to or read and comprehend the content.

We read the Little House books aloud the children. Along with many others.

[Ken]

It is amazing how easily offended modern man is. Basically, no book is appropriate for children except some modern book like “Heather Has Two Mommies”.

My only point was that if you are GOING to object to the Little House books then object to the actual questionable content that is in them, not because she left out unsavory details about her father in a series of children's fiction books intended for a 2nd-4th grade audience.

I read the Little House books as a kid and so did my girls. I think my mother gave them a boxed set for Christmas at one point.

But we also talked about them and read some of them together. I didn't just dump a box of books in their room and leave them to their own devices. We talked about some of her problematic opinions and called them out. Same as we would do with say Huckleberry Finn, which has a lot of material that needs to be placed in context. It's not just the dead Indians in the books. There is also racism. I mean, what's with this?

[Soloist]

It is amazing how easily offended modern man is. Basically, no book is appropriate for children except some modern book like “Heather Has Two Mommies”.

When our children were little they loved Moody's dramatized stories. "Ranger Bill". But later Moody was accused of being offensive and insensitive to Native Americans in the Character, Gray Wolf, who spoke a little different.

Wife: We listened to some Ranger Bill and Great Stories or whatever it is (with the aunt and uncle) with the children, but I really listened through it to find the acceptable ones for my children because a lot of them were pro fighting/military ect. Not saying a teen/YA couldn't listen to it (assuming they were actually interested), but my children are militaristic enough without me feeding more into them, especially mixed with Christianity. Didn't really seem to be intentionally offensive to grey wolf though, as he appeared to be perfectly intelligent from the ones I listened to.

One of the ranger bill I personally liked was the one with the two gangs fighting behind the old lady's house (Mrs. Kane wins the war). That one makes my mom heart warm and fuzzy and teary eyed. We listened to some others previously and I just really didn't like the behavior imitated by my son... Several of my friends are ok with more than I am, and I figure that's their decision. My worldview was very influenced by the books I read growing up, and I would subscribe to the thought that you become what you read/watch, especially bookworms. Can't control what all goes on at school, but if it's in my library, I'm basically endorsing it. We also talk about some of the stuff in their books that they shouldn't take examples from.

On a bunny trail, after hearing my little boy go on and on about Indians/ect, my sister's Australian high school stepson whom we met for the first time remarked how stereotyped that was. A little embarrassing, but basically told him we regularly have the talk about how Native Americans don't live in teepees/hunt w/ bow and arrows, and probably look the same and do the same things as everyone else. Pretty much all of our son's books are very pro-native Americans, like the ones with Quakers/Sign of the Beaver, ect. If anything, all the children I know, including my own, want to brag about every drop of "Indian" blood they can claim and run around with silent feet and bows 'hunting' things in the back yard.

Edit: Also, Soloist had a lot more objections to Little House than just the less than factual information, including some behaviors being taught, feminism (especially her daughter's books), ect, although we haven't forbidden our children from reading them and they actually have a collection. We try to at least talk about some of that with them.

[Soloist]

My only point was that if you are GOING to object to the Little House books then object to the actual questionable content that is in them, not because she left out unsavory details about her father in a series of children's fiction books intended for a 2nd-4th grade audience.

That was only one part of my objections and I mentioned other things. Nothing else I find objectionable though would you agree with me on likely, outside of the Indians that is.

[Soloist]

Wife:
I really should get off menno now, but I remember us getting so irked at a book auction about how the most popular book was basically a sambo style children's book that was really offensive that 2 or 3 ladies were trying to outbid each other on.. We try to stay away from that stuff, especially when children are at such an impressionable age. I think living in such an ethnically diverse area now is really good for them.

[barnhart]

I read through the little house books as a pre-teen and when I got to the fair grounds section in farmer boy and a native boy ran the race track and beat the horses, I suddenly realized just how fictional the whole thing was.

[Soloist]

I read through the little house books as a pre-teen and when I got to the fair grounds section in farmer boy and a native boy ran the race track and beat the horses, I suddenly realized just how fictional the whole thing was.

If I recall, they were pulling carts… it’s possible, but not probable.

[Ken]

My only point was that if you are GOING to object to the Little House books then object to the actual questionable content that is in them, not because she left out unsavory details about her father in a series of children's fiction books intended for a 2nd-4th grade audience.

That was only one part of my objections and I mentioned other things. Nothing else I find objectionable though would you agree with me on likely, outside of the Indians that is.

Well, there is that whole episode from the page I linked to above where Pa did blackface and put on a "hilarious" minstrel show making fun of the "darkies"

You should probably re-read them rather than relying on your distant memories from childhood. They are short, won't take long. There is also a whole anti-government theme where Pa is furious that the government was unfairly making them move because they built their squatter homestead illegally 3 miles across the line in Osage Indian territory and for once the Federal government was actually enforcing an Indian treaty.