From: Sharon Grover <sgrover>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 96 10:07:13 EDT

According to Fmce at aol.com:

I couldn't let this message go without a response regarding the use of Paulsen's MR. TUCKET as a read aloud. It is a very exciting story with lots of plot movement that will surely keep kids, boys in particular, on the edge of their seats. However, it paints a very unfortunate and stereotypical picture of Native Americans that we, as librarians and educators, must strive to eliminate.

Doris Seale, author of THROUGH INDIAN EYES, had this to say about the MR. TUCKET: "It is disappointing that a writer of his ability...should write a book that has just about every cliche and stereotype of the genre...What finished it for me, though, was the ending. We are not, now or ever, "animals," except in the sense that all human beings are animals. None of us lived
"wild." All of us lived in societies -- whether wanderers or village dwellers -- with structure and moral codes and a strong spiritual connection to all life, and the Earth, who gave us birth. Never know it from this book..."

Please don't perpetuate this view of Native peoples by using MR. TUCKET with kids.

Sharon Grover Arlington County Libraries sgrover at leo.vsla.edu
Received on Wed 21 Aug 1996 09:07:13 AM CDT