10 Classic Children's Books That Are Actually Racist

6. Pippi Longstocking

Like Little House On The Prairie, Swedish author Astrid Lindgren's series of books about the titular red-haired, incorrigible young girl who lives with a monkey and a horse have received scrutiny in recent years for their perceived but not entirely proven racism. In 2011, feminist theolgian Dr Eske Wollrad levelled claims that all three of the Pippi Longstocking novels "have colonial racist stereotypes" in them, especially in Pippi In The South Seas. When she meets several black characters on an island in the titular seas, they "throw themselves into the sand in front of the white children". Of course, Lindgren's granddaughter later pointed out that Longstocking doesn't stand for this kind of ridiculousness for long and feels uncomfortable being 'worshipped' in this way. All the same, the ethnic characters in the books are still portrayed as simpler than Pippi and her compatriots - and surely even suggesting that black children automatically assume white people are to be revered is something of an inappropriate statement, no?