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born and b(read) in the briar patch
Jun. 21st, 2008 07:08 ammy brother and his wife are having a baby (girl) in september. they've chosen the name Briar. i really really like it (which surprises me actually because i usually think "original" kid's names are ridiculous sounding/looking.) when i first heard the name, it immediately brought up memories of my grandad and the books i loved as a kid.
my grandad used to read to us from a big 70s Golden Book of uncle remus/bre'r rabbit stories. one of my favourites was the story about the tar baby. bre'r rabbit tricked bre'r fox into letting him go by begging him not to throw him in the briar patch, which bre'r fox of course does and then realizes rabbits are quite at home in briar patches.
(when i was in grade four one of our teachers also read the same book to our classes. but i was disappointed in her rendition as it didn't sound anything like my grandad's reading. of course my canadian teacher didn't have the added english accent while reading the "southern dialect," so it never sounded like the "real" uncle remus to me.)
this is the book and some page scans - in one, the text is readable and you can see the "dialect" it was written in:
http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/01/illustration-uncle-remus-stories-1949.html
i thought it might be nice to get a copy of the same book to read to my future niece but 30 years later the disney book, (and original "Song of the South" disney movie,) has slipped into obscurity because of the connections to slavery and racism. i was a little disappointed as the stories themselves, minus the controversial uncle remus character, existed long before a southern white man recorded them and disney animated them. being able to find and/or afford a copy of the book isn't likely now.
then i remembered - when i discovered ebay a number of years ago i found a copy of the bre'r rabbit stories written by enid blyton, the british author of the "famous five" books i also loved as a kid. i bought it because it combined two distinct memories for me - my grandad and my love of enid blyton books (which are also obviously racist/classist/un-pc 30 years later.) it happens to be one of only two purchases i've made on ebay and i completely forgot i had it until i was looking up the uncle remus book. i found it among my other put-away things and i've put it aside for when/if "Briar" arrives - i find myself really looking forward to reading the stories to her.
and i'm totally going to torment the kid by calling her briar (bre'r) rabbit.
my grandad used to read to us from a big 70s Golden Book of uncle remus/bre'r rabbit stories. one of my favourites was the story about the tar baby. bre'r rabbit tricked bre'r fox into letting him go by begging him not to throw him in the briar patch, which bre'r fox of course does and then realizes rabbits are quite at home in briar patches.
(when i was in grade four one of our teachers also read the same book to our classes. but i was disappointed in her rendition as it didn't sound anything like my grandad's reading. of course my canadian teacher didn't have the added english accent while reading the "southern dialect," so it never sounded like the "real" uncle remus to me.)
this is the book and some page scans - in one, the text is readable and you can see the "dialect" it was written in:
http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/01/illustration-uncle-remus-stories-1949.html
i thought it might be nice to get a copy of the same book to read to my future niece but 30 years later the disney book, (and original "Song of the South" disney movie,) has slipped into obscurity because of the connections to slavery and racism. i was a little disappointed as the stories themselves, minus the controversial uncle remus character, existed long before a southern white man recorded them and disney animated them. being able to find and/or afford a copy of the book isn't likely now.
then i remembered - when i discovered ebay a number of years ago i found a copy of the bre'r rabbit stories written by enid blyton, the british author of the "famous five" books i also loved as a kid. i bought it because it combined two distinct memories for me - my grandad and my love of enid blyton books (which are also obviously racist/classist/un-pc 30 years later.) it happens to be one of only two purchases i've made on ebay and i completely forgot i had it until i was looking up the uncle remus book. i found it among my other put-away things and i've put it aside for when/if "Briar" arrives - i find myself really looking forward to reading the stories to her.
and i'm totally going to torment the kid by calling her briar (bre'r) rabbit.
