Product: The Crippled Lamb [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Beautiful, Beautiful Book...
And I totally disagree with what "Advocate" says about the use of the word "Crippled" in the title.If this book had been talking about human children, I would be inclined to agree with him or her, however, on millions of farms in North America (and in the U.K.) "crippled" is a perfectly acceptable descriptive term for certain features of livestock. "Lame", "blighted", and "poor stock" are also used. So what? We cannot endlessly restructure our language and reassign meanings and words in order to try to sugarcoat and "brush away" the harsh reality of a disability and I, as a disabled person (deaf) deeply resent attempts to do so. When you cry "foul" at each possible non-politically-correct word and phrase, you drag the disabled out of their longed-for anonymity and showcase us as poor pitiful people who have to be coddled and protected from the strong and powerful in our world. Enough.I agree that certain words have a strong, negative picture associated with them and might be reconsidered for use as applied to human beings (but I couldn't care less if someone called my three-legged dog crippled. She is!). However, I would also like to suggest for your consideration that perhaps an early introduction to such words within a considerate and safe environment such as story time with Mom and Dad, is a good thing from this point of view: the first time one hears these words, is it better for there to be an explanation of good words and not so nice words at hand, or is it better for their first exposure to a harsh word be in a playground, while they are alone and feeling attacked?I vote for my child to be in my lap at the time so I could explain it to him. And I vote for teaching children that words only have the power that we give to them.