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From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:44:12 -0600
We can't speculate about how Chris Crowe's books might have been different had he been African-American himself, or about whether he would have even grown up to be a published author. But we do know that his books about Emmett Till wouldn't have ever been written at all if Mildred D. Taylor had never grown up to be a published author.
In the intro to "Getting Away with Murder," Crowe states that he had never heard of Emmett Till himself until he was an adult, interviewing Mildred D. Taylor in 1997, and she mentioned what an impact Till's murder had had on her when she was young. That inspired him to find out more about Emmett Till, which led him to write his story.
This demonstates the importance of the work of Mildred Taylor, and other CSK-Award winners through the years, who tell the stories of those who came before them, so that young readers can learn about the African-American struggle for civil rights.
KT Horning
Kathleen T. Horning, Director Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706
horning at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3721 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Certainly there has not been a book so wonderfully expressive in terms of this form of expression as Nelson's but I am wondering how this discussion all stacks up with the two books by Chris Crowe about Emmett Till -- one non-fiction and one fiction. If one could guess from his web page Crowe is Caucasian and I suspect has not encountered too many close encounters with the situation Emmett Till confronted. Crowe grew up in Arizona and played football at Brigham Young University. So what is the take on his books and how might they have been different if he had been African American?
Sharron McElmeel
Received on Thu 10 Mar 2005 10:44:12 AM CST
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 10:44:12 -0600
We can't speculate about how Chris Crowe's books might have been different had he been African-American himself, or about whether he would have even grown up to be a published author. But we do know that his books about Emmett Till wouldn't have ever been written at all if Mildred D. Taylor had never grown up to be a published author.
In the intro to "Getting Away with Murder," Crowe states that he had never heard of Emmett Till himself until he was an adult, interviewing Mildred D. Taylor in 1997, and she mentioned what an impact Till's murder had had on her when she was young. That inspired him to find out more about Emmett Till, which led him to write his story.
This demonstates the importance of the work of Mildred Taylor, and other CSK-Award winners through the years, who tell the stories of those who came before them, so that young readers can learn about the African-American struggle for civil rights.
KT Horning
Kathleen T. Horning, Director Cooperative Children's Book Center University of Wisconsin-School of Education 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 North Park St. Madison, WI 53706
horning at education.wisc.edu Voice: 608&3721 Fax: 608&2I33 www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Certainly there has not been a book so wonderfully expressive in terms of this form of expression as Nelson's but I am wondering how this discussion all stacks up with the two books by Chris Crowe about Emmett Till -- one non-fiction and one fiction. If one could guess from his web page Crowe is Caucasian and I suspect has not encountered too many close encounters with the situation Emmett Till confronted. Crowe grew up in Arizona and played football at Brigham Young University. So what is the take on his books and how might they have been different if he had been African American?
Sharron McElmeel
Received on Thu 10 Mar 2005 10:44:12 AM CST
