Did you read The Story of Ferdinand as a child? Written by Munro Leaf, with illustrations by Robert Lawson, it was first published in 1936.
Ferdinand, a young bull, would rather lie in the shade of a cork tree and smell flowers; he has no wish to fight in a bullring like the other bulls, who run about and butt their heads. He grows to be the biggest bull in the herd but, unlike the other young bulls, he does not dream of being chosen for one of the huge bullfights in Madrid. One day, men come to choose a bull. Ferdinand accidentally sits on a bee and is stung – he races across the field, snorting and stamping and the men, convinced he is ‘Ferdinand the Fierce’, take him to Madrid. There, great things are expected of him, but Ferdinand is entranced by the scent of the flowers in the women’s hair, and refuses to fight. He is taken back to his pasture and left happily smelling flowers once again.
The book was a huge bestseller. In 1936 it even out-sold Gone with the Wind. It has been translated into more than sixty languages. In 1938 Life magazine called the book “the greatest juvenile classic since Winnie-the-Pooh”. However, others attacked the book as promoting anarchy and communism. During the Spanish Civil War, the book was seen as having a political message and was denounced as pacifist by Franco and his supporters. In Spain, it remained banned until after Franco’s death. In Nazi Germany, Hitler ordered copies to be burned but, after Germany’s defeat, thousands of copies were printed and given out for free to children around Germany. In 1951 Ernest Hemingway wrote a story called The Faithful Bull, a rebuttal to the book.
Munro Leaf (1905 – 1976) wrote the story on a whim one afternoon, mainly to assist his friend, artist Robert Lawson (1892 – 1957), who was not yet known as an illustrator. When Ferdinand is being taken to Madrid, the view behind him is recognisably the city of Ronda, the Puente Nuevo and its gorge. I am excited about visiting Ronda when I lead my first Spanish literary tour next year.
There is a 1938 Disney film version of the story (which is always shown on Christmas Eve in Sweden). In the 2017 animated film version, Ronda was used as the setting for the flower market. The story has also been set to music.
What do you take from this multi-layered children’s story? Let me know in a comment.
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Penny Morris
Absoultely agree that children should be intriduced to books right from birth. It’s never too early to have a parent spend time with a baby / infant reading out loud. My go to book to purchase for new arrivals is Peepo which these days would be considered politically incorrect but uses hide and seek which kids love. I also love Possum Magic, Edward the Emu and others which encourage children to be accepting of difference.