Gentle Bull
July 22nd, 2010
How could anyone who grew up in the 50s (or earlier) fail to list Ferdinand the Bull as a favorite book? Everyone loved Ferdinand. The tale of a peace-loving bull who loves smelling the flowers more than fighting in the bullring, The Story of Ferdinand was a popular book for many years and was made into an animated short by Disney. You can see it here. (Warning – it doesn’t capture the look of the book.)
The story was by Munro Leaf and the illustrations by Robert Lawson. Lawson will definitely be coming up again in my list of favorites. I remember Leaf for something besides Ferdinand. (By the way, as a young reader, I thought Munro Leaf was a thrilling name!) He wrote a children’s feature in the Ladies’ Home Journal about the watchbird. It became part of our family lexicon – I can still hear my mother saying “This is a watchbird watching you.” The watchbird phrase stayed in our family so long, it still comes to mind when I see a child misbehaving. Reading Mother’s McCall’s and Ladies’ Home Journal was a big part of my childhood. I especially loved the paper doll, Betsy McCall, from McCall’s – I thought Betsy and I were so much alike. Or maybe I just wanted to be like her. After all, our names were similar and we both had dark hair. Another book Betsy figured prominently in my reading life – I will get to her in a bit.
Back to Ferdinand – aren’t Lawson’s pen and ink drawings gorgeous? And how he skewers the bullfighters and bandoleros! Still, for today’s generation, I’m thinking Ferdinand may not sit so well. Parents wouldn’t want to have to explain bullfighting to children, whereas we were raised knowing it was a part of Spanish and Mexican culture. During my childhood, books about different cultures were very popular (see the previous post). And pre-globalization, the changes between cultures were much greater.
Still, the story of a peace-loving bull who bucks the system and frustrates the status quo of bullfighting delighted me. Hey, I’m a Taurus! Last weekend, my husband casually mentioned loving Ferdinand when he was a child. It’s a common bond I didn’t know about.
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alice says:
When I was about four or five, we read this book in library class. The teacher explained to us that parents thought this book was not good for children. She actually explained it pretty well to us, considering that we were very young.
I’m a Virgo! I thought Aries was the bull… My sister is an Aries, and proud of it. :P
July 29, 2010, 7:05 amBetty says:
Your teacher was very wise! I think it’s possible to give children a context for what they’re reading.
July 29, 2010, 1:37 pmTaurus is indeed the sign of the bull. Aries is the ram. (They’re kind of similar). And my husband, like you, is a Virgo.
little red says:
Oh, lovely memories! When I was very young my GP gave me this book of Ferdinand the Bull. I treasured it through a long period of hospitalisation [years] and kept it safe. I loved the story, particularly the feeling he described so well of those warm sunny days and the buzzing of bees and insects and of lying peacefully and happily under the cork tree in the shade… I can see it all now, and recall those feelings as I write these words. THANK you SO much for also loving this book. For it was never about the bullfights, it was always about a creature wanting a simple peaceful life – no matter what promise he showed for his pre-planned destiny – or how magnificent he became
May 22, 2011, 3:37 am