Friday, June 4, 2010

The Inaccuracies Found In Children's Books

So some people consider me inaccurate, but have you ever read a children's book?

Consider, if you will, this book:





The first seemingly inaccurate thing that caught my eye is the cat over his shoulder.

I didn't think there would be a cat lounging around, so I did some independent research.

Apparently cats like to be on ships and do all sorts of things like kill rodents, predict weather and determine the final voyage of the ship (I learned this from wikipedia, not the book). Drake's ship experience was no exception, and the story relates a time when the ship's cat fell overboard and he was kind enough to save it (if only he had that much compassion while killing hundreds of Spaniards) and I was like "Okay, I can possibly accept that, although no credible source backs that up. I mean, where are the footnotes and experts in this book?" Then the story of saving the cat took another turn that I just didn't think was accurate.

So Drake jumps in to save the cat but the rough waters make it so that someone has to save Drake, so then up comes this guy:


Really? You're telling me that the water skiing squirrel was around in the 1500s and this is the first I'm hearing about it? From a children's book? And he just happened to be riding by. What vehicle was pulling him? A magical water chariot steered by mermaids and pulled by seahorses? Really.

No comments: