The Rabbits' Wedding by Garth Williams is a book that if I wasn't told was controversial, I probably wouldn't have figured it out for myself. The story line contains a white rabbit and a black rabbit getting married. Evidently, the controversial aspect is that it is a BLACK rabbit marrying a WHITE one. Now, I have to hope that this book is just an example of a past controversial one. If interracial marriage is still a controversy, then this country has farther to go than I would have thought. I think that most kids wouldn't even pick up on the fact that the rabbits could represent a black person and a white person, and they would mostly just focus on the fact that they are rabbits, unless of course it is pointed out to them. I liked the classic feel of this book and I also liked the illustrations. The story was cute and if the author wrote it to symbolize that interracial marriage didn't matter, then I give them credit. It's a great thing to represent through literature. I just hope that no teachers or parents would still hide this book from their children because I truly believe that nothing detrimental could come from this.
I didn't read this book but it seems like I would have the same response as you. Just like in tango makes three I think using animals makes the meaning less of a big deal if that makes sense. I agree that I am not sure if kids would pick up on the fact that the rabbits are two different colors. Unfortunately though I don't think that interracial marriages are an issue of the past. I don't have a problem at all with them but there are definatly people who do and who have a problem with that. Racism is still a problem which is really sad.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read this book either, but before I read your post, I tried to figure out what the controversy of this book would be and I definitely missed the fact that the rabbits were of different colors. If I didn't catch it, I'm pretty sure a four year old wouldn't either! I agree with you, I hope this book isn't much of a controversy either because I thought our country was passed that phase... but maybe not? It does make you think though. I'd like to take a look at this book sometime to see how it was written.
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