Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

At the outset, this book is a children's classic, and it was authored (presumably) with good intentions. It's artwork is colorful and exciting for children. Given that I have traveled to quite a few international locales with my 5 year old, we were able to pick out landmarks, etc., that we had seen in person. But the book is hugely Eurocentric, especially Northern/Western European. It spends a huge chunk of the book going on a country-by-country ethnic stereotyping tour of the Nordic and Western European countries. Being of Nordic descent, at first this was entertaining, but when I realized that the book spends almost zero time covering South America, Africa, or Asia, I became disappointed. It also has a bad habit of depicting women as nagging wives. And speaking of stereotyping -- whoa. What may have passed as "tongue-in-cheek" punny naming of characters when this book was written is largely unacceptable today. A student who wrote stories like these in school would likely be disciplined. The bottom line is that the book is the same as it ever was -- but it has aged badly. There is nothing malicious or mean spirited in the book, but its narrow and stereotype-filled worldview is one that the West has since progressed past.