Thursday 10 June 2010

The Story Of Little Kettlehead


The Story of Little Kettlehead is a bizarre children's book from 1904 by Helen Bannerman, a Scottish author of a number of controversial children's books, that would outrage the politically correct today.

Once upon a time there was a little girl in India, and her name was Mary. And she was very fond of poking fires. Her Mother used often to scold her and pull her away, but it was no use. She always poked fires when she got the chance.

4 comment(s):

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of "Het prentenboek van Tante Pau"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/3775154928_a5eff409f7.jpg

The JPG story is about a girl who can't stop sucking her thumb and her father cuts them of in retaliation. All stories are like this, awesome.

Lucy

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

This is new to me. I'm not sure what's creepier- a girl with a kettle for a head...
...or waking up to find a new head at the night table.
Stuwwelpeter is full of similar stories, but the naughty kids there didn't get second chances.

Alan Smithee said...

From wikipedia:
Helen Bannerman was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most notable being Little Black Sambo. The heroes of many of her books are recognizably south Indian or Tamil children...and have nothing to do with Africa or African people. And despite the plots having no particularly racist overtones and usually celebrating the intelligence and ingenuity of the children...the books have often been banned or censored.

King said...

My dad told me this story about a million years ago. Good to know that the legend still lives! Thanks, Gerard!