Alabama Story

What is it about books that makes some people so afraid? Senator E.W. Higgins is up in arms about Garth Williams' new book The Rabbits' Wedding, a children's story about two rabbits who marry. Higgins' main objection is that one of the rabbits is white and the other is black, and in Alabama in 1959, even the hint of miscegenation — and in a children's book, no less — is cause for alarm. Higgins demands it be removed from all Alabama libraries. One librarian, Emily Wheelock Reed, refuses to pull it. Books, and the ideas with their pages, are worth fighting for, Reed argues. Kenneth Jones' play Alabama Story is based on a true story. Williams, the illustrator of Stuart Little and the Little House on the Prairie books, had no idea his picture book about a rabbit wedding would spark a political fight that threatened the well-being of an entire state. The Repertory Theatre St. Louis presents Alabama Story to open the second half of its season. Performances are Tuesday through Sunday (January 2 to 27) at the Loretto-Hilton Center (130 Edgar Road; www.repstl.org). Tickets are $19 to $92.