The self-styled radical educator (``I Won't Learn from You,'' 1994, etc.) collects meandering, utterly predictable essays on the importance of narrative in the education of children. The title essay is hardly the incendiary piece it purports to be. Rather, Kohl rehearses the standard worries about kiddie culture: It's too violent, racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. The Babar books in particular suffer from their Eurocentric power relations and their celebration of assimilation; Kohl's analysis, by way of Frantz Fanon, links Babar to the triumph of colonialism. Among the other diversions popular with children that come under attack along the way is the Barbie doll, derided as ``part of the complex that can lead to bulimia and anorexia.'' But Kohl lacks the courage of his convictions and soft-pedals his radicalism with caveats, usually in someone else's voice (``Sometimes an elephant in a green suit is just an elephant in a green suit''). After an essay in which he rewrites the standard textbook version of Rosa Parks's story, which focuses on the courageous individual, so that it reflects instead ``community-based social struggle,'' Kohl reveals his true agenda in ``A Plea for Radical Children's Literature,'' which includes a series of prescriptions reminiscent of old social-realist proletarianism and Soviet-style utopianism. He suggests what this sort of literature would look like by drawing attention to some neglected books by Geoffrey Trease, Virginia Hamilton, and Vera Williamsall of which allegedly embody ``working-class pride'' and ``democratic socialist ideals.'' Two essays on American progressive educators turn attention to forgotten figures on the Left, from New York educator Angelo Patri to radical textbook author Harold Rugg, the bane of fundamentalists and capitalists. Kohl's emphasis on the ``nurturing tradition'' reflects his love of the empty bromide and his annoying rectitude. The essence of PC educational ideals.
Pub Date: July 15, 1995
ISBN: 1-56584-258-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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