Growing up we 've read picture books that have introduced us to literature, wildly funny characters and taught us how to use our imagination. However, have you ever thought maybe these children books aren 't just for entertainment? What if they have hidden messages with racist undertones or represent political movements. Sometimes what we see is not always what you get so I 've studied two popular children 's figures, Curious George and Babar the Elephant. The story Curious George begins with a zookeeper’s journey to Africa in which he crosses path with a little monkey by the name of George. The zookeeper or man in the yellow hat takes a liking to him and plans to take him home. Earlier in the day, he noticed how fascinated George was with his yellow hat he used that as a way to lure him. Once captured he lead into a ship headed back to America to live in a zoo. Soon after they arrive to …show more content…
Then, we have Babar the Elephant who lives a carefree life until his mother is killed by hunters sacrificing herself for the herd’s safety. As the story continues young Babar is faced with the same situation and brave like his mother risk his life to save the herd as well. Amazingly, he 's not murdered only separated from his family so and learns to survive on his own. Personally, I think it’s sad how Elephants are killed by polluters for their tusks. In King Leopold’s Ghost, he used his power to rob Africa of its natural wealth which included ivory and many other resources. As Babar became settled in his new western lifestyle he went back for his family since they no longer had a king to lead them. During, the first week of class we viewed a Multimedia Feature from the New York Times which showed foreigners leaving their native land for what they considered a better life. It completely blows my mind how he 's comfortable living with the same people who ran his family out of their homeland and killed his mother. He even begins to dress like them and adopt their culture as