The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf is a classic children's book about a gentle bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. Ferdinand is a peaceful bull who loves to sit in the shade of a cork tree and smell the flowers. When he is taken to Madrid to
The Story of Ferdinand (1936) is the best-known work by the American author Munro Leaf. Illustrated by Robert Lawson, the children's book tells the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in bullfights. He sits in the middle of the bull ring failing to take heed of any of the provocations of the matador and others to fight. The Story of Ferdinand was published in 1936 by Viking Books. Later, after the Spanish Civil War, it was viewed as having a political agenda. During World War II, the British Air Transport Auxiliary started flying into Europe after D-Day and their pilots, who were non-combatants, used Ferdinand the Bull as their call sign. The book has been adapted into two films, the 1938 animated short Ferdinand the Bull and the 2017 animated feature film Ferdinand. The latter was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 90th Academy Awards.