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From: Debbie Reese <d-reese>
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 11:31:31 -0500
At 10:55 AM 10/29/1999 00, you wrote:
"Poor quality" according to whom? I'm reluctant to refer again to the Carlisle/Rinaldi book, but it is a good case in point. It received favorable reviews from the major review journals, but those who know the history of Native boarding schools--Native and non-Native people who know that history--immediately found the book problematic. There are a lot of books published about Native Americans, most written by people who are not insiders or knowledgeable enough to know when they're writing something that isn't authentic or accurate. If reviewers don't have that knowledge, they won't see the problems either. So to return to Sharon's question---poor quality according to whom? My guess is that the Carlisle/Rinaldi book is in her library, yet it is clearly of poor quality. This isn't an attack on Sharon, rather it is an invitation to consider the very real problem that exists. If the major review journals don't have reviewers who can spot problems, then you--the librarians who use reviews to select books--are at risk for buying something that can be highly problematic.
If you've got one book that is problematic, but a hundred others that aren't, then that isn't a problem. If, however, if you have hundreds that are problematic, and add another one that is just like those others, then that is a problem. That is the situation with books about Native Americans.
How do you know what to choose? How do you know what to cull?
That is what this month's discussion was about. Beverly Slapin offered guidelines that some were critical of. Granted, there can be problems with guidelines, but at this point, we really have very little to go on! Those guidelines have much to offer because they expand our thinking. I do not interpret those guidelines as an attempt to portray Native people as without fault, without good and bad sides. I view them as an attempt to push us to think about the totality and humanity of Native people and history and how that is or isn't present in children's books.
Debbie Reese
_________________________________ Debbie Reese, Doctoral Student Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education, University of Illinois Champaign, IL 61820
Telephone: 217$4?86 Fax: 217$4E72 Email: d-reese at uiuc.edu
Received on Fri 29 Oct 1999 11:31:31 AM CDT
Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 11:31:31 -0500
At 10:55 AM 10/29/1999 00, you wrote:
"Poor quality" according to whom? I'm reluctant to refer again to the Carlisle/Rinaldi book, but it is a good case in point. It received favorable reviews from the major review journals, but those who know the history of Native boarding schools--Native and non-Native people who know that history--immediately found the book problematic. There are a lot of books published about Native Americans, most written by people who are not insiders or knowledgeable enough to know when they're writing something that isn't authentic or accurate. If reviewers don't have that knowledge, they won't see the problems either. So to return to Sharon's question---poor quality according to whom? My guess is that the Carlisle/Rinaldi book is in her library, yet it is clearly of poor quality. This isn't an attack on Sharon, rather it is an invitation to consider the very real problem that exists. If the major review journals don't have reviewers who can spot problems, then you--the librarians who use reviews to select books--are at risk for buying something that can be highly problematic.
If you've got one book that is problematic, but a hundred others that aren't, then that isn't a problem. If, however, if you have hundreds that are problematic, and add another one that is just like those others, then that is a problem. That is the situation with books about Native Americans.
How do you know what to choose? How do you know what to cull?
That is what this month's discussion was about. Beverly Slapin offered guidelines that some were critical of. Granted, there can be problems with guidelines, but at this point, we really have very little to go on! Those guidelines have much to offer because they expand our thinking. I do not interpret those guidelines as an attempt to portray Native people as without fault, without good and bad sides. I view them as an attempt to push us to think about the totality and humanity of Native people and history and how that is or isn't present in children's books.
Debbie Reese
_________________________________ Debbie Reese, Doctoral Student Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education, University of Illinois Champaign, IL 61820
Telephone: 217$4?86 Fax: 217$4E72 Email: d-reese at uiuc.edu
Received on Fri 29 Oct 1999 11:31:31 AM CDT
