Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #babartheelephant
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Since we’re talking about canceling kids books, racism, colonialism and the monarchy, it reminds me of when I recently re-read #BabarTheElephant for my daughter. As a kid, I remember it to be endearing, but holy shit racism can be insidious af. So gather ‘round... [thread] 
The book was originally published in France in 1931, so I assumed this story begins in Africa, but the name “Babar” is Persian for “tiger”, or Sanskrit for “king”, and the ears are small like an Asian elephant, so perhaps Jean De Brunhoff meant for it to be South Asia...
So somewhere in the jungle, Babar is happy and playing with his mom, and for no reason at all a hunter shoots his mother. Scared and alone Babar runs away, but instead of finding refuge among his fellow elephants, he runs towards more evil humans: the city...
