"Never Talk to Strangers" book
LtlPinkCoupe
Veteran
Joined: 7 Dec 2011
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,044
Location: In my room, where it's safe
Does anyone remember the Golden Book "Never Talk to Strangers" from their childhood, or seen it anywhere else?
And here's a clip of the story from a Little Golden Book video (starts @ 3:50):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4qyTPIXfqQ
I found a reprint of the book at a flea market once, and basically the storyline is about how if you run into all these different kinds of animals (i.e. a camel at the circus, a leopard at the grocery store, a bee playing jazz, a whale driving a red vintage automobile, etc) then you should avoid them, because you don't know them and therefore, they're strangers. However, as the story goes, we find out that any animals that are friends of your teacher or parent (such as a lilac llama or a kangaroo) are okay, because your teacher or parent knows them already (Which is actually not the best advice to give young kids, since there are lots of "stranger danger" problems that stem from people that kids already know).
I thought the book was pretty cute, but at the same time, I felt like a little kid having it read to them would just get confused and start thinking that animals are all strangers. And, it turns out I was right - if you do an Amazon search for this book, you'll see concerned feedback from parents trying to teach their kids about personal safety who ended up with kids who were afraid of animals or kids who randomly pointed to any animal they saw while out and about, saying, "Look mommy, a stranger." Kid tend to take things literally and may not get the metaphor of various animals engaged in silly activities.
So, yeah....as a childless 20 - something who has a fondness for all things cute, artsy, vintage and colorful, I think it's a cute book....but not one I'd use to teach my kids about personal safety issues.
...On a side note, a whale driving a red hot rod is, like, the perfect marriage of two of my foremost special interests.
_________________
I wish Sterling Holloway narrated my life.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" "Life isn't fair, Calvin." "I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in MY favor?" ~ from Calvin and Hobbes
I must have been a smart kid, because I both read it to myself and got what they were on about. If I remember right my grandmother had a copy in the same cluttered room in the back of the house where she kept all her birdwatching equipment, and I used to sit there on the boxes of knick-knacks and dusty old chairs by the glass doors reading through all kinds of weird books.
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