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diversity, the 70s, and animal families (longish)
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From: Flyingpig2 at aol.com <Flyingpig2>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 11:09:00 EST
As a children's bookseller, I am always looking for books with a diverse
"cast," books with characters and family structures that provide the background for a story but don't focus on the diversity or the family structure as the only story.
For example, as a child, I LOVED books like The Snowy Day and Corduroy. I didn't really notice or care about the color of the characters, or the fact that their mothers were in evidence, but not fathers (was there a dad in Corduroy? Hm.). They were just great stories. (I have to say I probably would have noticed color acutely, however, had I been a non-white child with all too few representations of brown skin in my books.)
Several years ago, as a school librarian, I was pleased to come across Annie Day and the O-Ring, a story that happens to feature two moms and their child, but is about camping. As I recall, there is no "issue" about having two moms. I know that issues books often pave the way for the rest, but it's time to move into a real literature that is naturally and honestly inclusive. Obviously, we've made great strides, but we're not there yet.
Sometimes I see a heavy-handedness about the "teaching" of diversity in books today that seems almost MORE race-conscious, a step backward from some wonderful books I remember from the 70s, where the characters were diverse with teeth, so to speak, not just token diverse. Am I misremembering that decade's middle grade and YA books (late 60s to late 70s) as being much freer, bolder, more inclusive and real?
One last thought about animal stories: at the store, I've often been bothered by picture books for toddlers that feature animals looking for family or friends. They keep coming to the "wrong" type of animal until they find another mouse or whatever matches their own species, at which point there is joyous recognition or reunion. Lately, I've seen books that take a different approach, but that kind of visual matching seems like a storytelling shorthand that I wish authors & artists would think more deeply about before engaging in.
Wow -- I don't post often, but this one's the length of three posts. Thanks for the forum in which to share thoughts.
Cheers, Elizabeth Bluemle
Received on Thu 14 Nov 2002 10:09:00 AM CST
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 11:09:00 EST
As a children's bookseller, I am always looking for books with a diverse
"cast," books with characters and family structures that provide the background for a story but don't focus on the diversity or the family structure as the only story.
For example, as a child, I LOVED books like The Snowy Day and Corduroy. I didn't really notice or care about the color of the characters, or the fact that their mothers were in evidence, but not fathers (was there a dad in Corduroy? Hm.). They were just great stories. (I have to say I probably would have noticed color acutely, however, had I been a non-white child with all too few representations of brown skin in my books.)
Several years ago, as a school librarian, I was pleased to come across Annie Day and the O-Ring, a story that happens to feature two moms and their child, but is about camping. As I recall, there is no "issue" about having two moms. I know that issues books often pave the way for the rest, but it's time to move into a real literature that is naturally and honestly inclusive. Obviously, we've made great strides, but we're not there yet.
Sometimes I see a heavy-handedness about the "teaching" of diversity in books today that seems almost MORE race-conscious, a step backward from some wonderful books I remember from the 70s, where the characters were diverse with teeth, so to speak, not just token diverse. Am I misremembering that decade's middle grade and YA books (late 60s to late 70s) as being much freer, bolder, more inclusive and real?
One last thought about animal stories: at the store, I've often been bothered by picture books for toddlers that feature animals looking for family or friends. They keep coming to the "wrong" type of animal until they find another mouse or whatever matches their own species, at which point there is joyous recognition or reunion. Lately, I've seen books that take a different approach, but that kind of visual matching seems like a storytelling shorthand that I wish authors & artists would think more deeply about before engaging in.
Wow -- I don't post often, but this one's the length of three posts. Thanks for the forum in which to share thoughts.
Cheers, Elizabeth Bluemle
Received on Thu 14 Nov 2002 10:09:00 AM CST
