Comments on: scarry 2.0

scarry 2.0

marlowe — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 05:50:37 -0800

Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever then & now (1963 - 1991). Pretty Stewardess -> Flight Attendant, etc.

By: jamesonandwater

jamesonandwater — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 05:54:18 -0800

Wow, fantastic find. I was born in 77 so I suppose mine is somewhere between the two he's comparing. And they changed from "handsome pilot" to "pilot"? Awww.

By: martinrebas

martinrebas — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:03:15 -0800

How will today's children ever learn important expressions like "Beautiful screaming lady"???

By: NinjaPirate

NinjaPirate — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:04:25 -0800

How bizarre. "Letter Carrier"?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:10:43 -0800

How bizarre. "Letter Carrier"? The United States Postal Service has been very aggressive about making sure people use this term, although I can't remember the last time one brought me a letter instead of a big honking sheaf of useless coupons addressed to RESIDENT.

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:20:41 -0800

Interesting cultural snapshot. They do sometimes go overboard with the "leveling," but "beautiful screaming lady" is more than a bit anachronistic. BTW, that's MeFi user No. 1747, Kokogiak (blog).

By: eriko

eriko — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:24:18 -0800

Nice link!

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:29:57 -0800

Cool. I loved my Scarry books.

By: runkelfinker

runkelfinker — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:38:30 -0800

Best word book link ever.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 06:54:35 -0800

LOVED my Scarry books when I was a kid.

By: chunking express

chunking express — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:22:38 -0800

That was quite interesting. I wonder if the changes would have been made if the book was printed now, rather than 1991. Do you think people are more or less politically correct now versus 15 odd years ago? Beautiful Screaming Lady is an awesome title for someone.

By: Gator

Gator — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:26:49 -0800

Nice link. I, too, loved my Scarry books as a kid. I wish I still had Busy Busy World. If memory serves me, as it sometimes does in bizarre, non sequitur fashion, that book was where I first learned the word "cassowary."

By: kokogiak

kokogiak — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:27:21 -0800

For what it's worth, after posting these, a few people sent me this link to an article on rotten.com (it's sfw, no idea why it's on rotten). Some of the revisionism is explained in that article: "After twenty years with Golden Books, Scarry moved across Madison Avenue to Random House. While the publishing company was pleased as punch to receive him, it was here that Richard Scarry started to receive his first batch of hate mail. Letters of complaint poured in about the roles played by women in reformed-gigolo Scarry's picture books. The increasing importance and acceptance of the feminist movement in the United States called into question why a large percentage of Scarry's female characters were depicted as housewives: cooking, cleaning, washing dishes. Scarry, now a significantly older man, was a bit incensed. He maintained that because his characters were animals, and because most wore trousers, it was difficult to discern whether or not a worker was a man or a woman. Besides, most of the women characters dressed just like men anyway, a trait arguably mirrored by the feminists themselves. Random House urged him to change with the times, and he wasn't too difficult to persuade once he learned sales were being affected. His Best Word Book Ever was still his number-one bestseller, and it was accused of being the worst offender. And so he drew new art, using women workers on the job, and depicting men taking a more active interest in household duties. Then, more scandal. Racial issues began to surface when Random House re-released Busy, Busy World. This picture book had been a pinnacle of achievement for Scarry when he was at Golden Books. It was a labor of love, incorporating his fondness for travel and appreciation for other cultures. But changing times and buckets of hate mail at Random House suggested that characters like Manuel of Mexico (with a pot of refried beans stuck on his head), Ah-Choo the near-sighted panda bear from Hong Kong, and Angus the Scottish bagpiper were no longer acceptable role models for children. Random House quietly subtracted some of Scarry's best stories from future distribution, including the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone. That story can be found in earlier copies of Golden Book's Busy Busy World, in the remainder bin of your local thrift store."

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:32:32 -0800

I like Richard Scarry books. And I like pretty stewardesses. I mean, flight attendants.

By: cusack

cusack — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:52:23 -0800

Yeah, the occupation of "commuter" is all but extinct in this modern-day world.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:18:50 -0800

It's weird that "beautiful screaming lady" was changed to "cat in danger," when the whole book is full of anthropomorphic characters.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:05:38 -0800

Interesting that "he comes to breakfast promptly when called" is considered ... what? Too harsh? Suggestive of beatings? What should a kid do when he's called for breakfast? Ignore his parents and sit continue to play video games for 20 minutes, intermittently yelling "coming...one second..."?

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:14:35 -0800

the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone That is fucking fantastic.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:16:05 -0800

I mean, 'fecking'.

By: aladfar

aladfar — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 09:51:02 -0800

Regarding "He comes to breakfast promptly when called." Perhaps we need more of this - the language serves a subtle reminder that kids need to listen to their parents, without being too overboard about it. Otherwise we may as well rewrite it to read "I want my mutherfucking chocolate milk!"

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:10:57 -0800

Great post, marlowe. Why am I not surprised that it is by kokogiak? It's always worth poking around on his site. / waves to planetkyoto

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:15:44 -0800

adadfar - I'd missed the chocolate milk video - thanks for the link. I see some pretty god-awful spoiled kids, and I believe there is nothing at all wrong with setting up parents as wise authority figures to be obeyed. They have plenty of time to learn the truth about us later.

By: ab'd al'Hazred

ab'd al'Hazred — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:16:07 -0800

Rotten Biographies are actually fantastic and overwhelmingly sfw. They shouldn't have dropped the American Indian kayak mouse. Beautiful Screaming Lady I can sympathise with though.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:27:46 -0800

I think some unfortunate mistakes have been made in the changes. Take "beautiful screaming lady," for instance: the phrase and the scenario just beg for a child-centred bit of co-operative story-telling. A person could spend an easy half-hour on that page alone, identifying pictures and words and talking about the actors and actions. Rewriting it as "cat in danger" just sucks the lifeblood from it. A terrible mistake, that one. But, then, what parent reads with their child these days? I distinctly remember bedtime picturebooks and sing-songing and nursery rhymes when I was a wee lad, aged five and under. I rather strongly suspect that such is a very rare thing these days.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:46:37 -0800

No one outside of books uses "promptly". Maybe "quickly" or "right away", but "promptly"?

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:14:31 -0800

promptly is archaic (like "archaic"), and it also never was in a beginning reader's vocabulary. We had these books too--it's terrible how we were so indocrinated on gender roles, looking back now.

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:14:50 -0800

My mom does, blue_beetle.

By: jennyb

jennyb — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:03:51 -0800

We had these books too--it's terrible how we were so indocrinated on gender roles, looking back now. Did anybody else have Don and Donna Go to Bat? In it, baseball star's twin sister Donna takes over for Don when he's too sick to play in the big game. She hits the game winning homer, and as a reward for her abilities, the team lets her wash uniforms. For some reason, I loved that book. My parents hated it, but continued to read it to me without explaining their objections. I am all for updating the language in a kid's vocabulary book to better reflect the roles women actually play in today's society. Changing "beautiful screaming lady" out of the book helps dispell the still pervasive idea that ladies are best suited for the role of passive, screaming, helpless victim as they wait for a handsome hero to get them out of whatever jam they're in. "Cat in danger" might not be the best replacement, but I think it's better than the loaded text of the original.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:45:12 -0800

"beautiful screaming kitten" would be gender-neutral and would still allow for imagination.

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 14:55:44 -0800

Yo momma's so archaic, she thought Pheidippides was prompt.

By: Sibrax

Sibrax — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 19:02:33 -0800

That's awesome. My favorite was always Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. Oh, the hours I spent looking for Goldbug. Good times.

By: chime

chime — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 20:06:01 -0800

Good stuff Kokogiak and thanks marlowe for pointing it out.

By: russilwvong

russilwvong — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 21:35:07 -0800

But, then, what parent reads with their child these days? I distinctly remember bedtime picturebooks and sing-songing and nursery rhymes when I was a wee lad, aged five and under. We do, and I don't think it's so uncommon. My wife joined a community mom-and-baby group (although these days it's called a parent-tot group) after our son was born, and they did a lot of rhymes and songs. Our favourite Richard Scarry book is probably What Do People Do All Day? Economics for three-year-olds. Busy Busy World is great, too. (I doubt it'll ever come back into print; we bought a used copy through Amazon.) the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone Patrick continues: "UP THE IRISH!!!" shouted Patrick. "Mother Machree, Erin Go Bragh, Macnamarra's band, Lucille Ogle, Kathleen Norah Daly, Sean O'Casey, and Albert Leventhal!"

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:06:43 -0800

Interesting that "he comes to breakfast promptly when called" is considered ... what? I think the revision has more to do with the penchant of junior high schools to find smutty humor in any usage of the verb "to come."

By: mediareport

mediareport — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:20:59 -0800

They changed the wood stove on the cover to a modern electric range? Outrageous!

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 02:24:47 -0800

What's interesting is that, in the original version, the cover shows a wood stove but inside it's an electric range. Maybe our electric range overlords are sneaking their propaganda in one page at a time.

By: bashos_frog

bashos_frog — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:04:42 -0800

I'm kind of glad they inserted dad into more of the household scenes, and that they improved the balance of gender with regards to the various occupations. However, the world is a much less wonderful place without 'brave heroes', and 'beautiful screaming ladies' for them to rescue. (Couldn't they have just addded a brave heroine, and a well-dressed, panicked, gentleman in some other situation?)

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 07:43:32 -0800

Great link. Love these books. I think they helped put the Paris in Paramus (because they, in retrospect, seem so European).

By: nthdegx

nthdegx — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 10:57:24 -0800

I'm a little sad about the changes.

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 10:23:19 -0800

I'm so glad that I held on to my copies of "Busy Busy World" and "What Do People Do All Day?" -- we have a daughter arriving in less than a month, and I'll definitely read to her from those.