I am definitely not one to pull books out of libraries, burn them, or ban them elsewhere. I’m a believer in discussion, myself, and if my child brought home books of a questionable nature to read—like I did when I was young—I would want to discuss them with her and find out what she gleaned from the book, why she chose it, and what we both can take from the experience. She’s going to be experiencing plenty of things in her life that are of a “questionable nature” and I won’t always be there to help guide her through them, so I welcome such discourse while she’s young.

That doesn’t, of course, mean that she can raid my Stephen King collection when she’s eight; everything needs to be within reason, of course—and when I did that to my own grandmother’s collection I was simply confused and scared! That said, should she do that on her own, I will be happy to discuss it with her, and she’s not going to get in trouble for reading a book.

All of that said, Herbert R. Kohl’s book, Should We Burn Babar?, poses very important questions and points we need to consider when selecting children’s literature. Kohl’s book analyzes several children’s works, including Babar, beloved by many, and Pinocchio. He uses these works to point out the racism, sexism, and other stereotyping and discrimination condoned throughout children’s literature. If you’ve ever been bothered by a children’s book, you might want to check out Kohl’s Burn Babar.

Kohl also points out that many historical tales, such as the one of Rosa Parks, are even slanted to portray a racist point of view. He suggests we turn to more progressive stories to foster multicultural understanding and a sense of humanity among our children rather than read traditional stories that can inflict damage, and he provides some alternatives as well.

It really is worth the read, but not to discover which books to ban and which to read in this blogger’s opinion. It’s worth it to be aware of the messages that literature can contain and to be ready to answer some hard-hitting questions—and to ask provocative ones as well—when our children read books like these. I’m not encouraging anyone to purchase these books; I myself will not. I prefer to fill my daughter’s library with positive, culturally vibrant books that we both can enjoy.

What I am encouraging is a discussion, a healthy exchange of ideas, when a work like this is encountered. If a child picks out Babar from the library, for example, go ahead and read it. But follow it with a discussion about how just because Babar is dressed and his family of elephants is not, he is not better than they are; they are simply different. Talk about the hunter in the story—why is he not punished, or spoken of again? How did he impact Babar’s family?

It’s important to take the lessons from Burn Babar and apply them to any work. Any book can stem a valuable, meaningful discussion, and children should learn to critically analyze what they read, whether it’s a picture book, the news, or something by Arianna Huffington or Anne Coulter. They’ll have to learn to think independently somewhere; wouldn’t you rather it be with you?