Lost in Translation

We wandered around the different sections of the library this week, and came home with what I would call a less than stellar haul. It included several other books that, honestly, I didn't read--J read them to the girls while I stuck with familiar tales that my tired brain could do on autopilot. The two I did read, though, just struck nerves. I don't think the books are poorly written, but the plots didn't cut it for us.

Backyard Bear, by Jim Murphy. Illustrated by Jeffrey Greene.

The motivation behind this book was a good one: inform suburbanites of the wrong way to deal with bear incursions that, at publication in 1993, were becoming more frequent in densely populated areas on the East Coast. However, that motivation is explained as a postscript called "The Bear Facts." The message is lost in the drama of the story itself.

A bear wanders into a neighborhood after being chased from the woods by a larger bear. He wanders around, and is eventually cornered by a dog, mother, father, and kid with a camera with a flash. The police arrive, shining more lights directly at the trapped bear, leading to an unsuccessful pursuit of the bear through the neighborhood until morning, when the bear is able to get back to the forest.

All these things are certainly possible: the idiot parent going "I wonder what's prowling in my back yard. I should bring the dog and my kid to Instagram what could be a prowler, drug dealer, or wild animal," the police not bothering to call animal control or Fish and Game to tranquilize a bear that is clearly not acclimated to humans, and a guns-drawn chase through neighborhoods. What the book needed, though, was an explanation within the story that this was the wrong approach, and that caution was the better move.

As a parent living in urban bear country, this book gets a thumbs down, despite the wonderful drawings and compelling writing, because of what is missing in its content.


Uglypuss, by Caroline Gregoire (tr. from the French by George Wen)

Boy wants dog. Boy gets dog, but dog is ugly. Boy is horrid to dog, makes him cry by saying mean things, and instead of thumping boy for being mean to his new pet who clearly adores him, Mom assures boy that his friends will eventually like dog because dog has a great personality. Because what we need is one more thing to reinforce that living beings get their dignity from their attractiveness and the opinions of others. Boy goes to camp and dog follows. Boy throws a hissyfit, is mean to dog again, ends up falling into a pool and almost drowning until Uglypuss saves him, at which point boy loves loves loves dog.

Moral: Ugly things are only worth loving based on what they can do for us.

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt that, in the French sensibility, that's not what the author meant. However, since that does not translate into the English version, we won't be getting this book again.


Talking Points
When we read both these books, I talked on a very basic level about what was not ok about them. What do you do when you come across something in a story that either contradicts what you're teaching your kids or that is simply in error? How do you handle it?