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A Child's Wasteland of Verses
Below is a letter I sent to Salon today.
Many thanks to Salon and Hilary Flower. The (literal) desecration of "The Wind In the Willows" has been bothering me for years. And unfortunately it’s not the only classic of children’s literature to go under the knife; Hugh Lofting’s classic "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" has been tampered with since the 1970s. Two years ago I searched Harvard Square’s upscale Curious George Goes to Wordsworth for a copy, only to find five different bowdlerized versions – most of which did not indicate that they had been substantially altered from the original text – and NO copy of the original work. A postscript in one edition by Lofting’s son justifying the alterations on the basis of a misguided sort of political correctness (shades of Huckleberry Finn) only added insult to injury.
Even lesser works such as The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Three Investigators series have been rewritten for the modern child, with vocabulary grossly simplified and plots painfully streamlined.
No wonder children are less and less interested in reading these days!
Many thanks to Salon and Hilary Flower. The (literal) desecration of "The Wind In the Willows" has been bothering me for years. And unfortunately it’s not the only classic of children’s literature to go under the knife; Hugh Lofting’s classic "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" has been tampered with since the 1970s. Two years ago I searched Harvard Square’s upscale Curious George Goes to Wordsworth for a copy, only to find five different bowdlerized versions – most of which did not indicate that they had been substantially altered from the original text – and NO copy of the original work. A postscript in one edition by Lofting’s son justifying the alterations on the basis of a misguided sort of political correctness (shades of Huckleberry Finn) only added insult to injury.
Even lesser works such as The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Three Investigators series have been rewritten for the modern child, with vocabulary grossly simplified and plots painfully streamlined.
No wonder children are less and less interested in reading these days!