Not One Damsel in Distress; World Folktales for Strong Girls by Jane Yolen Illustrated by Susan Guevara
A collection of folktales with strong female protagonists, and not even all of them with the goal of marriage being the pinnacle of her achievements!
When the Moon is Full; A Lunar Year by Penny Pollack Illustrated by Mary Azarian
A "go-to" favorite in my house for verse and beautiful woodblock illustrations that talk about the meanings of each full moon. I like how it connects us to the seasonal changes and the moon cycles and helps us talk about this connectedness with our kids.
Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long
A beautifully rewritten version of the classic lullaby. I always hated how the parent in this song was going to keep buying things for the baby until the baby was happy, and that is exactly how the author felt as well. In her own words, "It seems much healthier to encourage children to find comfort in the natural things around them and the warmth of a mother's love."
I also like that in the story the characters are drawn as rabbits, which I think is a nice tool of children's books to make the story more universal. I think it is easier for a child to be able see themselves in a character that is already entrenched in fantasy, and not, appearance wise at least, representing a specific culture.
We Were Tired of Living in a House byLiesel Moak Skorpen Illustrated by Doris Burn
The story of a group of children who leave home to try living in, among other things, a tree, a boat and a cave. In the end, they decide to return home to the joyful arms of their parents.
What I like about this book is the autonomy of the kids. They are seeking adventure, and are off exploring the world. They play at many different ways they could live, and explore their identities, all the while functioning as a supportive collective.
The thing I dislike about this book is that being written in 1969, it shows some pretty stereotypical gender images in the artwork. The little girls engage in their adventures, all the while wearing frilly party dresses, and serving tea.
This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie Illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen
The music of Woody Guthrie is an important part of the radial leftist history of the United States. His songs gave voice to many poor and working class folks, including many struggling for social change.
I also acknowledge that it is a strange song in a way. While trying to be a rallying cry for the reclamation of the country for the people, and from those with the wealth and power, it is hard not to think about it in the context of indigenous rights. This land is actually NOT our land, when it comes down to it. And though I love the message of anti-authoritarianism and collective utilization of resources, the reality is that we do not live here, and never have lived here, in harmony with our surroundings, or the people whose ancestors lived on this land for thousands of years.
What I do like about this book is the inclusion of the lesser known verses that address poverty, and land ownership. You don't normally hear these verses in the school chorus, and I think that they are really the most moving of all.
Just Like Me; Stories and Self- Portraits by Fourteen Artists ed. by Harriet Rohmer
Not a story, as such, but a collection of self portraits and autobiographical notes from some wonderful artists. They each talk about their identity, making art, their childhoods and what inspires them. The paintings are beautiful and I think is a great conversation starter about identity. The artists are from many different cultural backgrounds and I love how it shows how the identity of "artist" isn't relegated to any specific race or gender or background.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
The Next Chapter...
I have been going back over the books I have read and the things I have written in the past couple of months, trying to get a sense of where I have been, so I can decide where I am going.
Where AM I going with all of this? In some ways it seems all over the place; Talking about oppression, and artwork, and the future of children's literature. I feel like I could go into depth in ten directions with all of this. But what next?
Something that has come up for me in the past ten weeks, over and over again, is my own struggle with my identity and where I fit in as an author of children's books. Are my ideas and perspectives even needed in the world of children's books, and is there a way for me to write authentic stories without furthering the status quo?
What I have come up with is that I want to dig deeper into theories behind deconstructing oppression, and see how I can relate that work to the world of children's books. I want to explore the idea of "multiculturalism" and take a look at who are the authors of many of the books I have already reviewed, and see what perspective they are coming from.
I also intend to keep making The List of Books I Like, and add notes that provide further context and discussion ideas for adult readers.
Ultimately I want to start to lay out my own work in story and art, hopefully informed by the work I have done and shared on this blog.
Next post... one more set of book reviews before I dive into this new chapter...
Stay tuned.
Where AM I going with all of this? In some ways it seems all over the place; Talking about oppression, and artwork, and the future of children's literature. I feel like I could go into depth in ten directions with all of this. But what next?
Something that has come up for me in the past ten weeks, over and over again, is my own struggle with my identity and where I fit in as an author of children's books. Are my ideas and perspectives even needed in the world of children's books, and is there a way for me to write authentic stories without furthering the status quo?
What I have come up with is that I want to dig deeper into theories behind deconstructing oppression, and see how I can relate that work to the world of children's books. I want to explore the idea of "multiculturalism" and take a look at who are the authors of many of the books I have already reviewed, and see what perspective they are coming from.
I also intend to keep making The List of Books I Like, and add notes that provide further context and discussion ideas for adult readers.
Ultimately I want to start to lay out my own work in story and art, hopefully informed by the work I have done and shared on this blog.
Next post... one more set of book reviews before I dive into this new chapter...
Stay tuned.
I Believe the Children Are Our Future
"What are we doing here, if we're not singing
This is my revolution. You are my revolution."
These are the first few lines of a new song that I am writing. It is for my children. It is about how genuinely I believe in that blurb at the top of my blog.
"The surest way to change the world is to change the ways we interact with children, and the stories that we tell them."
You are my revolution.
My children make me more radical everyday. And they constantly test the strength of my beliefs.
Radical means "of, relating to, or proceeding from a root." What better place to get "radical" than where the stories of our culture are re-birthed with each new generation: Children.
I would like to address the roots of compulsory education, and it's designs on our children, but I think that would take ten weeks in it's own right. Perhaps I will dive into that abyss in the future on this blog. For now I will say that I genuinely believe that there are no education systems without agenda. Compulsory education and liberatory education alike. The motivation of the agenda is what is in question.
I am also sure that all "radical" education, or "radical" children's literature is certainly not on the same page. Just as most people claiming the same religion, or political party, are not on the same page, exactly. There is plenty of leftest, radical teaching aimed at children that is simply trying to replace one set of dogmas with another.
In my heart of hearts, what I want most for my children, for all children, is the information, freedom and respect to make informed decisions about who they want to be and how they want to engage with the world. But seeing as there is really no such thing as "agenda-less" education, where are we to go for "agenda-less" information and stories to share with children?
Maybe it is impossible to create such literature and education materials. Maybe the burden (or challenge) lies with the adults who engage with the children, and help to teach them critical thinking skills.
I just finished reading the book Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Racial Children's Literature edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Philip Nel. In the foreword of the book, Jack Zipes explains the word radical as "having roots" or "being rooted."
He continues, "A radical person is someone who endeavors to understand the world by going to the root of a phenomenon, issue or problem. A radical literature, especially a radical children's literature, wants to explore the essence of phenomena, experiences, actions, and social relations and seeks to enable young people to grasp the basic conditions in which they live."
This is an interesting collection of works spanning the 20th Century that look at topics ranging from race to ecology, with plenty of examples of leftist political ideology from the early part of the century.
I have to admit that I had a hard time getting absorbed in this book, due to it's layout and presentation. Though I was extremely interested in the stories shared, conveying them in such an "academic" manner made it hard for me to care about them. The smattering of illustrations shared from each book are reprinted small, and in black and white. The texts themselves are layed out in columns, words dense upon each page. Perhaps I am not cut out for academic research because much of the passion of these works were lost on me, simply because my interest wasn't captured by the presentation. ( Though I certainly understand the necessity, not the least of which is that many of these books are out of print.)
This is my revolution. You are my revolution."
These are the first few lines of a new song that I am writing. It is for my children. It is about how genuinely I believe in that blurb at the top of my blog.
"The surest way to change the world is to change the ways we interact with children, and the stories that we tell them."
You are my revolution.
My children make me more radical everyday. And they constantly test the strength of my beliefs.
Radical means "of, relating to, or proceeding from a root." What better place to get "radical" than where the stories of our culture are re-birthed with each new generation: Children.
I would like to address the roots of compulsory education, and it's designs on our children, but I think that would take ten weeks in it's own right. Perhaps I will dive into that abyss in the future on this blog. For now I will say that I genuinely believe that there are no education systems without agenda. Compulsory education and liberatory education alike. The motivation of the agenda is what is in question.
I am also sure that all "radical" education, or "radical" children's literature is certainly not on the same page. Just as most people claiming the same religion, or political party, are not on the same page, exactly. There is plenty of leftest, radical teaching aimed at children that is simply trying to replace one set of dogmas with another.
In my heart of hearts, what I want most for my children, for all children, is the information, freedom and respect to make informed decisions about who they want to be and how they want to engage with the world. But seeing as there is really no such thing as "agenda-less" education, where are we to go for "agenda-less" information and stories to share with children?
Maybe it is impossible to create such literature and education materials. Maybe the burden (or challenge) lies with the adults who engage with the children, and help to teach them critical thinking skills.
I just finished reading the book Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Racial Children's Literature edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Philip Nel. In the foreword of the book, Jack Zipes explains the word radical as "having roots" or "being rooted."
He continues, "A radical person is someone who endeavors to understand the world by going to the root of a phenomenon, issue or problem. A radical literature, especially a radical children's literature, wants to explore the essence of phenomena, experiences, actions, and social relations and seeks to enable young people to grasp the basic conditions in which they live."
This is an interesting collection of works spanning the 20th Century that look at topics ranging from race to ecology, with plenty of examples of leftist political ideology from the early part of the century.
I have to admit that I had a hard time getting absorbed in this book, due to it's layout and presentation. Though I was extremely interested in the stories shared, conveying them in such an "academic" manner made it hard for me to care about them. The smattering of illustrations shared from each book are reprinted small, and in black and white. The texts themselves are layed out in columns, words dense upon each page. Perhaps I am not cut out for academic research because much of the passion of these works were lost on me, simply because my interest wasn't captured by the presentation. ( Though I certainly understand the necessity, not the least of which is that many of these books are out of print.)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Feminist Voices in Children's Literature
In searching for works of both literary and social criticism of children's literature I found the pickings to be slim. Should We Burn Babar was one of the few books that I found that was really taking a look at the social memes, especially around oppression, that are being passed through children's books.
One of the books I did find didn't exactly fit in to this part of my project, being about Young Adult Novels, but I decided to use it for lack of an abundance of options. Waking Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Voices in Children's Novels by Roberta Seelinger Trites focuses on the critique of the feminist themes in Yong Adult Fiction.
For personal reasons I found this book particularly compelling as I am in the beginning stares of developing a Young Adult novel. It was interesting to follow Trites as she applied feminist theory to the characters and story lines of so many novels that are thought of as empowering to girls. Her chapters are broken down into different themes such as sisterhood, gender roles and mother/daughter relationships. What I got out of this book, in large part, was a list of books that I want to read or re-read with her critiques in hand.
In many ways it is hard to apply the complexity and depth of her ideas to the picture books that are currently my focus. Her commentary around gender roles, and identity outside of the comparative opposites that our culture assumes about gender certainly apply, as I have touched on in previous discussion about gender stereotypes. But often the level of relationships where so many of the oppressions of a patriarchy are brought to light are not conveyed as boldly in picture books, due to length.
I think that the power of reading her critiques, and how I can apply it to my own reading and research, lies in the assumed back story of these books: The unspoken cultural norms.
It is interesting to think how to relate complex ideas of gender, identity, culture, relationship and oppression in short form fiction, for a young audience.
A couple of interesting omissions, or places that she put little, if any, focus were around transgender and genderqueer topics, as well as sexuality outside of the hetero model. In the past ten or fifteen years (the book was written in 1997) it seems as if the awareness around sexuality and non-binary gender and how they relate to feminism have come to the forefront. It feels like this book misses out a lot by not addressing these issues as well.
I look forward to revisiting this book while working and my own novel, as well as finding the time to read some of the books she critiques with an eye to the points she raises about them.
One of the books I did find didn't exactly fit in to this part of my project, being about Young Adult Novels, but I decided to use it for lack of an abundance of options. Waking Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Voices in Children's Novels by Roberta Seelinger Trites focuses on the critique of the feminist themes in Yong Adult Fiction.
For personal reasons I found this book particularly compelling as I am in the beginning stares of developing a Young Adult novel. It was interesting to follow Trites as she applied feminist theory to the characters and story lines of so many novels that are thought of as empowering to girls. Her chapters are broken down into different themes such as sisterhood, gender roles and mother/daughter relationships. What I got out of this book, in large part, was a list of books that I want to read or re-read with her critiques in hand.
In many ways it is hard to apply the complexity and depth of her ideas to the picture books that are currently my focus. Her commentary around gender roles, and identity outside of the comparative opposites that our culture assumes about gender certainly apply, as I have touched on in previous discussion about gender stereotypes. But often the level of relationships where so many of the oppressions of a patriarchy are brought to light are not conveyed as boldly in picture books, due to length.
I think that the power of reading her critiques, and how I can apply it to my own reading and research, lies in the assumed back story of these books: The unspoken cultural norms.
It is interesting to think how to relate complex ideas of gender, identity, culture, relationship and oppression in short form fiction, for a young audience.
A couple of interesting omissions, or places that she put little, if any, focus were around transgender and genderqueer topics, as well as sexuality outside of the hetero model. In the past ten or fifteen years (the book was written in 1997) it seems as if the awareness around sexuality and non-binary gender and how they relate to feminism have come to the forefront. It feels like this book misses out a lot by not addressing these issues as well.
I look forward to revisiting this book while working and my own novel, as well as finding the time to read some of the books she critiques with an eye to the points she raises about them.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
THE LIST: Books I Like #3
So the list is growing. I probably should be spending a little more time critiquing the children's books that I don't like, but reading the good ones is so much more fun! I feel like I spent my entire childhood engulfed in the bad ones, and that my time is better spent highlighting the ones I am excited to share with my kids, and with you!
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman Illustrated by Diana Souza
In 1989 when Heather and her mommies first appeared in a children's book, they were bashing down a big ol' door. This book was really the first kids book that showed gay or lesbian parents.
The 10th anniversary reprinting of the book streamlines the story that was, at times, wordy and offered unnecessary information, such as how Heather was conceived.
Thanks, in large part, to this book, there is a growing crop of kids books that offer gay and lesbian characters including:
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell
In Our Mother's House by Patricia Polacco
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
The Family Book by Todd Parr
All Kinds of Families! by Mary Ann Hoberman
Emma and Meesha My Boy: A Two Mom Story by Kaitlyn Taylor Considine
King and King and Family by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
and
King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Generally stories that glorify royalty are not on the top of my favorites list, but this one is one of my favorites books, in spite of that. It has beautiful collaged illustrations layered with quirky drawings. The story tells about a prince who is being coerced into marriage by his overbearing mother. The queen lines up a parade of princesses for the prince to choose from, and he does not like any... until he experiences love at first sight with one of the princesses brothers. And they wed, and live happily ever after. (Until the follow up book where they adopt a baby, and then continue to live happily ever after.)
I think my favorite thing about this book is how the fact that the prince falls in love with another prince and not a princess is not made a big deal of. He finds someone that he loves, and the queen and the kingdom are happy and celebrate with him.
It is a love story and the gender of the lovers is never called into question!
Old MacDonald had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman Illustrated by Ashley Wolff
The character of Old MacDonald in this version of the story is a female. She works in her woodshop, building a very special project with the help of her friends. Instead of the animals on the farm, the story details the tools she is using for her project, which, it turns out, is a toy farm!
I love the reworking of a well known children's rhyme to make the protagonist a woman, especially because she is doing a job that is often thought of as male work.
Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne Illustrated by Giselle Potter
Another retelling of a classic children's story where the protagonist has been changed to a female.
An empowering version of the tale, Kate defeats the Giant and she and her mother go to live in the castle with the giants wife.
The retelling of classic fairy tales with the main characters gender changed has become a popular theme. Though I am generally more interested in stories with more contemporary themes I like the idea of the reworked fairy tale. It is hard to get through childhood without coming across tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Pied Piper, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Three Billy Goats Gruff... and so many others. I love to see these tales and their characters adapted to reflect stronger female characters, and more progressive ideology.
Are there more that you know of?
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman Illustrated by Diana Souza
In 1989 when Heather and her mommies first appeared in a children's book, they were bashing down a big ol' door. This book was really the first kids book that showed gay or lesbian parents.
The 10th anniversary reprinting of the book streamlines the story that was, at times, wordy and offered unnecessary information, such as how Heather was conceived.
Thanks, in large part, to this book, there is a growing crop of kids books that offer gay and lesbian characters including:
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell
In Our Mother's House by Patricia Polacco
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
The Family Book by Todd Parr
All Kinds of Families! by Mary Ann Hoberman
Emma and Meesha My Boy: A Two Mom Story by Kaitlyn Taylor Considine
King and King and Family by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
and
King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Generally stories that glorify royalty are not on the top of my favorites list, but this one is one of my favorites books, in spite of that. It has beautiful collaged illustrations layered with quirky drawings. The story tells about a prince who is being coerced into marriage by his overbearing mother. The queen lines up a parade of princesses for the prince to choose from, and he does not like any... until he experiences love at first sight with one of the princesses brothers. And they wed, and live happily ever after. (Until the follow up book where they adopt a baby, and then continue to live happily ever after.)
I think my favorite thing about this book is how the fact that the prince falls in love with another prince and not a princess is not made a big deal of. He finds someone that he loves, and the queen and the kingdom are happy and celebrate with him.
It is a love story and the gender of the lovers is never called into question!
Old MacDonald had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman Illustrated by Ashley Wolff
The character of Old MacDonald in this version of the story is a female. She works in her woodshop, building a very special project with the help of her friends. Instead of the animals on the farm, the story details the tools she is using for her project, which, it turns out, is a toy farm!
I love the reworking of a well known children's rhyme to make the protagonist a woman, especially because she is doing a job that is often thought of as male work.
Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne Illustrated by Giselle Potter
Another retelling of a classic children's story where the protagonist has been changed to a female.
An empowering version of the tale, Kate defeats the Giant and she and her mother go to live in the castle with the giants wife.
The retelling of classic fairy tales with the main characters gender changed has become a popular theme. Though I am generally more interested in stories with more contemporary themes I like the idea of the reworked fairy tale. It is hard to get through childhood without coming across tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Pied Piper, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Three Billy Goats Gruff... and so many others. I love to see these tales and their characters adapted to reflect stronger female characters, and more progressive ideology.
Are there more that you know of?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Free to Be, You and Me!!
A couple of posts back I mused about the classic radical book/movie/record/play from my childhood, Free to Be, You and Me. I began to wonder if not only the the music and images were dated, but if the topics of the stories and songs were as well.
I have listened to the album over and over again through the years. The music and stories are imprinted in my head so that I can recite them along with the storytellers.
In fact, Free to Be was the very first musical I performed in at the local children's theatre. Along with 25 or so other kids I belted out "In a land we the children are freeeeeee. In a land through the green countryeeeeeee," and had my first solo with the lines "When we grow up will I be a lady?" while wearing a floppy pink hat and a too-big-for-me party dress.
This was such a part of my childhood that I knew I would have to sit down and look at the book, read the words over and over again, to get some actual perspective on how it had aged.
It was nearly impossible to find a copy of the book, and I ended up getting it through loan from another university library. When it arrived, it's cover was worn, and some of the pages were barely hanging onto the binding. It was the original printing of the book from 1974, and I feel very lucky to be using this copy for my research. A little piece of history in my hands.
The first thing that I was struck by was how the book looked much less dated than I'd expected. Aside from the awesome 1970's photos that accompany "It's Alright to Cry," the drawings and layout still feel diverse, interesting and beautiful. The woodcuts by Barbara Bascove are my particular favorites.
The music on the album is certainly dated, which is hard to avoid when you are making something that you want to feel fresh and hip and exciting for a certain era. Some of the more theatrical/ story songs have weathered the years, but the music for "Sisters and Brothers" with it's funky 70's vibe might be a little hard for kids to relate to. I may be wrong, though. I think kids are much more adaptable than adults, for sure, but it certainly sounds dated to me.
I suppose part of me expected the content of the book would be hopelessly unrelatable, and that kids today are so "post- whatever" (racist, sexist...etc) that the things that seemed radical almost 40 years ago would make kids today say "Duh?!"
In some ways, this almost already felt true by the time I made my stage debut in the show in 1984. Some of the messages were lost on me because they didn't seem all that radical by the time I was being raised by a single mother in the mid-eighties in California. Obviously, that may have been a totally different story in another place, or another family, but I don't think I understood AT ALL what the song "Girl Land" was about. The song references a place where "good little girls pick up after the boys," or a childhood more like the one my mom was raised in. I wore jeans and played sports and had Tonka trucks that my Barbies drove around in. I was raised to believe that I was growing up in a "post-sexist" era, which in relationship to the previous generation, it must have felt like. The song didn't seem to apply to me.
But sitting with the song, as a 35 year old woman, in fact re-visiting all the stories and songs that deal with gender equality in the book, I am reminded how the dismantling of oppression is like peeling the layers of an onion. So in some ways this book doesn't translate to a new era, but not because we have "fixed" all those pesky issues, but because we have uncovered what is beneath, as well as discovered how the ways we were dealing with one set of oppressions was enforcing another.
The gender discussions of Second Wave Feminism were radical and so important, and there was so much that lay beneath. The idea of men and women being equal uncovered much about the fallacies of a binary gender system, and, for many, the paradox of wanting to be treated "equally" to an identity or system that wasn't healthy to begin with. In other words, it often becomes more complex the more we uncover. It is the nature of doing authentic work for social justice and equality that there are always more ways in which we can challenge ourselves and our community to be more conscious, loving, supportive and open.
The other interesting thing, well, interesting, or sad depending on how to look at it, is that many of the stories told in Free to Be, You and Me are NOT outdated in the slightest. In almost 40 years we as a culture have not shed the painful stereotypes of gender identities, and still impose these restrictive ideas on our children through most mainstream media outlets, not the least of which is advertising.
Women still hawk all the cleaning products in commercials.
There are still "Boy Toys" and "Girl Toys," and I would be willing to bet, despite Alan Alda's super buttery smooth delivery of the story "William's Doll," that the majority of another generation of boys would get flack, especially from the males in their lives, about wanting a doll.
There are still "Girl Clothes" and "Boy Clothes, " and even a kind, intelligent friend of mine winces when his son wants to wear his sister's pink shoes.
Free to Be, You and Me is useless in the same way we are "post-racial" because we have a black president. Just because things "aren't as bad as they used to be" doesn't mean that everything is fixed.
I think that a new chapter of the Free to Be... series, one that goes the next steps in ideas around gender and sexuality, one that addresses tough issues around race and global issues of destruction of place and culture, would be incredible.
But I am pleased and saddened at the same time to note how much Free to Be... remains culturally pertinent for 2010.
I have listened to the album over and over again through the years. The music and stories are imprinted in my head so that I can recite them along with the storytellers.
In fact, Free to Be was the very first musical I performed in at the local children's theatre. Along with 25 or so other kids I belted out "In a land we the children are freeeeeee. In a land through the green countryeeeeeee," and had my first solo with the lines "When we grow up will I be a lady?" while wearing a floppy pink hat and a too-big-for-me party dress.
This was such a part of my childhood that I knew I would have to sit down and look at the book, read the words over and over again, to get some actual perspective on how it had aged.
It was nearly impossible to find a copy of the book, and I ended up getting it through loan from another university library. When it arrived, it's cover was worn, and some of the pages were barely hanging onto the binding. It was the original printing of the book from 1974, and I feel very lucky to be using this copy for my research. A little piece of history in my hands.
The first thing that I was struck by was how the book looked much less dated than I'd expected. Aside from the awesome 1970's photos that accompany "It's Alright to Cry," the drawings and layout still feel diverse, interesting and beautiful. The woodcuts by Barbara Bascove are my particular favorites.
The music on the album is certainly dated, which is hard to avoid when you are making something that you want to feel fresh and hip and exciting for a certain era. Some of the more theatrical/ story songs have weathered the years, but the music for "Sisters and Brothers" with it's funky 70's vibe might be a little hard for kids to relate to. I may be wrong, though. I think kids are much more adaptable than adults, for sure, but it certainly sounds dated to me.
I suppose part of me expected the content of the book would be hopelessly unrelatable, and that kids today are so "post- whatever" (racist, sexist...etc) that the things that seemed radical almost 40 years ago would make kids today say "Duh?!"
In some ways, this almost already felt true by the time I made my stage debut in the show in 1984. Some of the messages were lost on me because they didn't seem all that radical by the time I was being raised by a single mother in the mid-eighties in California. Obviously, that may have been a totally different story in another place, or another family, but I don't think I understood AT ALL what the song "Girl Land" was about. The song references a place where "good little girls pick up after the boys," or a childhood more like the one my mom was raised in. I wore jeans and played sports and had Tonka trucks that my Barbies drove around in. I was raised to believe that I was growing up in a "post-sexist" era, which in relationship to the previous generation, it must have felt like. The song didn't seem to apply to me.
But sitting with the song, as a 35 year old woman, in fact re-visiting all the stories and songs that deal with gender equality in the book, I am reminded how the dismantling of oppression is like peeling the layers of an onion. So in some ways this book doesn't translate to a new era, but not because we have "fixed" all those pesky issues, but because we have uncovered what is beneath, as well as discovered how the ways we were dealing with one set of oppressions was enforcing another.
The gender discussions of Second Wave Feminism were radical and so important, and there was so much that lay beneath. The idea of men and women being equal uncovered much about the fallacies of a binary gender system, and, for many, the paradox of wanting to be treated "equally" to an identity or system that wasn't healthy to begin with. In other words, it often becomes more complex the more we uncover. It is the nature of doing authentic work for social justice and equality that there are always more ways in which we can challenge ourselves and our community to be more conscious, loving, supportive and open.
The other interesting thing, well, interesting, or sad depending on how to look at it, is that many of the stories told in Free to Be, You and Me are NOT outdated in the slightest. In almost 40 years we as a culture have not shed the painful stereotypes of gender identities, and still impose these restrictive ideas on our children through most mainstream media outlets, not the least of which is advertising.
Women still hawk all the cleaning products in commercials.
There are still "Boy Toys" and "Girl Toys," and I would be willing to bet, despite Alan Alda's super buttery smooth delivery of the story "William's Doll," that the majority of another generation of boys would get flack, especially from the males in their lives, about wanting a doll.
There are still "Girl Clothes" and "Boy Clothes, " and even a kind, intelligent friend of mine winces when his son wants to wear his sister's pink shoes.
Free to Be, You and Me is useless in the same way we are "post-racial" because we have a black president. Just because things "aren't as bad as they used to be" doesn't mean that everything is fixed.
I think that a new chapter of the Free to Be... series, one that goes the next steps in ideas around gender and sexuality, one that addresses tough issues around race and global issues of destruction of place and culture, would be incredible.
But I am pleased and saddened at the same time to note how much Free to Be... remains culturally pertinent for 2010.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Liberation Literature
I often use the term "radical" in my exploration of social memes in children's literature, but I think I need to explain more of what I intend with the use of this word. Radical by definition means, "from the root." My interest and aim is to look at the depths of children's books for, not only the information about our culture that they pass along to children, but the roots of these very ideas in our culture at large. Why we put value and emphasis on certain lifestyles, values and behaviors.
The books that most interest me, the ones I feature on my expanding "List of Books I Like" are ones that present a liberatory alternative the certain social norms about gender, race, culture, class, sexuality and consumption. I would call it "Liberation Literature."
What I mean by this is as follows...
That the book deals with one, or more, of the following topics:
1. Portrays loving respectful relationships between people, regardless of gender
2. Shows adults giving children autonomy and treating them with respect
3. Does not place rigid gender boundaries, or deals with the idea of gender as something other than binary
4. Shows family structures outside of the assumed "nuclear family" model
5. Portrays people of color as the lead character/ majority of the characters, without necessarily needing their ethnicity as a plot point
6. Uses cultural references from other sources than the "white/ christian" American perceived norm, especially without necessarily needing it as a plot point
7. Portrays working class, low income or transient folks with a normalcy and respect
8. Portrays life outside the capitalist system
9. Illustrates people living in/ or working to live in harmony with their surroundings
10. Questions the dominant culture of sexism, racism, heterosexism, classism and environmental devastation in a clever, beautiful, or profound way
I know there are a ton of things I am leaving off that list. That is what I have for the moment. It is a work in progress, and I would love your input. I think that it will be nice to have as a reference point while continuing my reading and research.
The books that most interest me, the ones I feature on my expanding "List of Books I Like" are ones that present a liberatory alternative the certain social norms about gender, race, culture, class, sexuality and consumption. I would call it "Liberation Literature."
What I mean by this is as follows...
That the book deals with one, or more, of the following topics:
1. Portrays loving respectful relationships between people, regardless of gender
2. Shows adults giving children autonomy and treating them with respect
3. Does not place rigid gender boundaries, or deals with the idea of gender as something other than binary
4. Shows family structures outside of the assumed "nuclear family" model
5. Portrays people of color as the lead character/ majority of the characters, without necessarily needing their ethnicity as a plot point
6. Uses cultural references from other sources than the "white/ christian" American perceived norm, especially without necessarily needing it as a plot point
7. Portrays working class, low income or transient folks with a normalcy and respect
8. Portrays life outside the capitalist system
9. Illustrates people living in/ or working to live in harmony with their surroundings
10. Questions the dominant culture of sexism, racism, heterosexism, classism and environmental devastation in a clever, beautiful, or profound way
I know there are a ton of things I am leaving off that list. That is what I have for the moment. It is a work in progress, and I would love your input. I think that it will be nice to have as a reference point while continuing my reading and research.
Friday, November 19, 2010
THE LIST: Books I Like #2
The books that I am going to write about today all deal, on some level, with economic class.
Addressing class in the context of a children's book seems like a tough thing to do without making it heavy-handed. These books show working class families, a family living on the edges of society, and two different stories of people making beauty out of other peoples waste.
Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai
This is a really sweet books that highlights a family of color, where the father works the night shift.
What I love most about this book is the lack of conflict. The story is simply a sweet look at how the daddy puts his daughter to bed at night and then goes to work, and when he returns, she puts him to bed in the morning.
It is a glimpse into a loving, working-class family, showing an urban life, and a different lifestyle than is portrayed in many children's books.
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
This book deals with issues of race and violence and is set in an ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The story is taking place as a riot (of unknown origin) is taking place outside of a young boy's apartment building, while the mama tries to explain why people are engaging in such behavior.
There is also tension between the mama, who is, perhaps, Latino, and a neighbor named Mrs. Kim, who appears to be Asian.
The apartment building gets set on fire as a result of the riot, and the tragedy results in the two women coming together to begin to build a friendship.
Though I have some conflict about the origins of this book, which was written by a white woman from Ireland, I think the issues it confronts are important ones to discuss with kids.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of why the people were rioting, because I think it could begin interesting discussion with kids about injustice and inequality and what are ways these things can be addressed.
But the artist is one of my favorites, using brightly colored folk art paintings in juxtaposition with photographed collage backgrounds. I think it is a stunning example of how art can serve to tell a whole other level of the story.
The Table Where Rich People Sit By Byrd Baylor, Illustrated by Peter Parnell
A family tries to put a price on the things that are most important to them about their lives, and determine that they are very rich.
Ok... Sounds cheesy, but it is truly a beautiful book. I am not entirely thrilled about the need to see ones life through a capitalist lens, but I realize that that is a lens that many can identify with, especially when contemplating ones economic class.
The family portrayed in the story is also not typical in kids books, or much media, for that matter. They have chosen to live a life outside of the "mainstream" where they can follow work that makes them feel passion, and live a life in rhythm with their surroundings, and created by their own hands.
The Tin Forest by Helen Ward and Wayne Anderson
I love this book. I love this book. I love this book.
I love that it deals with isolation, and waste by consumption and creativity and making beauty out of trash. I love the art. I love the message.
Another book that looks at the fallacies of capitalism, and shows other ways to live in the world.
Beautiful.
The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, Illustrated by David Roberts
The art in this book is clever and compelling, and there is a nice diversity to the characters, though, per the usual format for most media, the main character is still a white man.
The story shows a group of folks who take items they find in the trash and create new uses for them.
The premise is great, but the ending bugs me a little. They had to come in with some final moral about how "re-using is great and all, but you probably shouldn't dig through the trash."
The main character gets hurt while dumpster diving, and so the kids go around and ask their neighbors for their unwanted items instead of dumpstering anymore. Great idea, except that I would bet if you went to Safeway and asked them for the bread they were about to throw away, they probably wouldn't hand it over. It isn't a reality to keep the waste of a capitalist system from reaching the trash cans, and I think that a little nod to why people are taught to (encouraged to) be so wasteful would have been interesting.
Either way, I think it is a cute book, that can bring up plenty of discussion about waste and re-use of things others call "trash."
Addressing class in the context of a children's book seems like a tough thing to do without making it heavy-handed. These books show working class families, a family living on the edges of society, and two different stories of people making beauty out of other peoples waste.
Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai
This is a really sweet books that highlights a family of color, where the father works the night shift.
What I love most about this book is the lack of conflict. The story is simply a sweet look at how the daddy puts his daughter to bed at night and then goes to work, and when he returns, she puts him to bed in the morning.
It is a glimpse into a loving, working-class family, showing an urban life, and a different lifestyle than is portrayed in many children's books.
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
This book deals with issues of race and violence and is set in an ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The story is taking place as a riot (of unknown origin) is taking place outside of a young boy's apartment building, while the mama tries to explain why people are engaging in such behavior.
There is also tension between the mama, who is, perhaps, Latino, and a neighbor named Mrs. Kim, who appears to be Asian.
The apartment building gets set on fire as a result of the riot, and the tragedy results in the two women coming together to begin to build a friendship.
Though I have some conflict about the origins of this book, which was written by a white woman from Ireland, I think the issues it confronts are important ones to discuss with kids.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of why the people were rioting, because I think it could begin interesting discussion with kids about injustice and inequality and what are ways these things can be addressed.
But the artist is one of my favorites, using brightly colored folk art paintings in juxtaposition with photographed collage backgrounds. I think it is a stunning example of how art can serve to tell a whole other level of the story.
The Table Where Rich People Sit By Byrd Baylor, Illustrated by Peter Parnell
A family tries to put a price on the things that are most important to them about their lives, and determine that they are very rich.
Ok... Sounds cheesy, but it is truly a beautiful book. I am not entirely thrilled about the need to see ones life through a capitalist lens, but I realize that that is a lens that many can identify with, especially when contemplating ones economic class.
The family portrayed in the story is also not typical in kids books, or much media, for that matter. They have chosen to live a life outside of the "mainstream" where they can follow work that makes them feel passion, and live a life in rhythm with their surroundings, and created by their own hands.
The Tin Forest by Helen Ward and Wayne Anderson
I love this book. I love this book. I love this book.
I love that it deals with isolation, and waste by consumption and creativity and making beauty out of trash. I love the art. I love the message.
Another book that looks at the fallacies of capitalism, and shows other ways to live in the world.
Beautiful.
The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, Illustrated by David Roberts
The art in this book is clever and compelling, and there is a nice diversity to the characters, though, per the usual format for most media, the main character is still a white man.
The story shows a group of folks who take items they find in the trash and create new uses for them.
The premise is great, but the ending bugs me a little. They had to come in with some final moral about how "re-using is great and all, but you probably shouldn't dig through the trash."
The main character gets hurt while dumpster diving, and so the kids go around and ask their neighbors for their unwanted items instead of dumpstering anymore. Great idea, except that I would bet if you went to Safeway and asked them for the bread they were about to throw away, they probably wouldn't hand it over. It isn't a reality to keep the waste of a capitalist system from reaching the trash cans, and I think that a little nod to why people are taught to (encouraged to) be so wasteful would have been interesting.
Either way, I think it is a cute book, that can bring up plenty of discussion about waste and re-use of things others call "trash."
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Stories For Free Children, the Ms. Magazine Collection
In 1982 Ms. Magazine published a book of children's stories titled Stories For Free Children, Ed. by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. The book contained almost 40 short stories, fables, and fairy tales emphasizing non-sexist, multi-racial, multi-cultural themes, most of which first appeared in the magazines column of the same title. The column that it came from is also considered to be the main inspiration for one of the most memorable parts of my childhood, Free to Be, You and Me, conceived by Marlo Thomas.
The book is long since out of print, and hard to find. I was lucky enough to come across a hard bound version at one of my favorite local bookshops, De Colores Books. (http://www.decoloresbooks.com/)
One of the most amazing things to discover as I poured through the pages was how many of my favorite radical children's stories actually came from the pages of this book. One of which, "X" by Lois Gould, I had been searching for for many years since I first read it in a Women's Studies textbook of a friend almost ten years ago.
"X" is the story of a child whose parents decide not to tell people just what is in between their child's legs, or assign it a gendered pronoun. I remember the first time I read this story thinking, "Yeah! I am gonna do THAT when I have a kid."
Though I did not follow through on that exact idea, I have since become part of a much larger community of folx challenging the gender binary. I have friends who were labeled as one gender at birth, and now live as another. I have friends who prefer to use genderless pronouns such as "they" and "ze." In general, I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who are trying to look at the box we put around the idea of "boy" and "girl" and how we can break it to bits and allow everyone to live in whatever part of the spectrum they feel happy.
With the kids in my life, it is really important to me to pay extra attention to the characteristics we give to things of one gender or another. What exactly are "girl things" and "boy things" anyway? Why is it that, especially once they aren't babies anymore, we have very different emotional expectations and nurturing towards children depending on their sex?
"X" was the first kid's story that I read that challenged these things in a way that would be fun to read and discuss with kids. Recently, I have discovered a new crop of books attempting to do the same thing. (In my next post, I will share some of these.) But aside from "William's Doll" and others from the Free to Be, You and Me soundtrack, and Tomie dePaola's Oliver Button is a Sissy, for most of my childhood there was a decided lack of children's books challenging gender roles.
Stories For Free Children has a lot of awesome stories that I am excited to read to kids. There are stories about history, adoption, divorce, feelings, guns, empowerment and different sorts of ability. The one stumbling block I found is that the language, and even subject matter is incredibly dated at times. In several of the stories, I would amend language as I was reading, to change words that are out of date, and considered offensive now, such as "My Brother Steven is Retarded." But for it's time, this is a groundbreaking book that teaches a lot about radical children's stories, specifically from my childhood, which feels important to my understanding of the literature's evolution in my lifetime.
My other favorite story in the collection is one that has since been illustrated and published as it's own book; Toni and Slade Morrison's The Big Box.
I had just discovered this story this past year at a friends house, borrowed the illustrated book, and have yet to give it back. (Sorry L and S!) I have to prioritize getting my own copy because it is truly one of my favorite books I have ever read.
The Big Box is the story of how children are expected to behave in certain ways, pushed to the side, and not treated with the respect they deserve. Ok... perhaps this is not a book for very small children. It is pretty wordy, even with beautifully illustrated pages, and the meaning is pretty deep, but I think it could be read with kids over 5 or 6, and discuss with them how they feel like they are treated by adults.
I also think that this book is challenging for adults. It brings up ways in which we marginalize children and try to brush off their needs, often with possessions and inauthentic authoritarian rules.
The book version is beautifully illustrated by Giselle Potter, and makes the meaning of the story translate with so much more passion than the text alone. I would highly recommend checking it out.
Though I had not planned on re-visiting Free to Be, You and Me for this particular project, reading Stories For Free Children makes me think I should. In the context of the history of radical children's literature, even though it was a television special and record album, I think that the impact of these two works in succession shaped a generation searching for a new way to raise kids. I know that Free to Be, You and Me played a huge part in my beginning to explore identity, especially around gender.
So, off to the library I go. To revisit my old friends... "There's a land that I see, where the children are free. And they say it ain't far to this land from where we are."
I wonder... is it too outdated to make an impact on a new generation? Is there a need for a new soundtrack as well as new radical tales to tell our kids?
The book is long since out of print, and hard to find. I was lucky enough to come across a hard bound version at one of my favorite local bookshops, De Colores Books. (http://www.decoloresbooks.com/)
One of the most amazing things to discover as I poured through the pages was how many of my favorite radical children's stories actually came from the pages of this book. One of which, "X" by Lois Gould, I had been searching for for many years since I first read it in a Women's Studies textbook of a friend almost ten years ago.
"X" is the story of a child whose parents decide not to tell people just what is in between their child's legs, or assign it a gendered pronoun. I remember the first time I read this story thinking, "Yeah! I am gonna do THAT when I have a kid."
Though I did not follow through on that exact idea, I have since become part of a much larger community of folx challenging the gender binary. I have friends who were labeled as one gender at birth, and now live as another. I have friends who prefer to use genderless pronouns such as "they" and "ze." In general, I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who are trying to look at the box we put around the idea of "boy" and "girl" and how we can break it to bits and allow everyone to live in whatever part of the spectrum they feel happy.
With the kids in my life, it is really important to me to pay extra attention to the characteristics we give to things of one gender or another. What exactly are "girl things" and "boy things" anyway? Why is it that, especially once they aren't babies anymore, we have very different emotional expectations and nurturing towards children depending on their sex?
"X" was the first kid's story that I read that challenged these things in a way that would be fun to read and discuss with kids. Recently, I have discovered a new crop of books attempting to do the same thing. (In my next post, I will share some of these.) But aside from "William's Doll" and others from the Free to Be, You and Me soundtrack, and Tomie dePaola's Oliver Button is a Sissy, for most of my childhood there was a decided lack of children's books challenging gender roles.
Stories For Free Children has a lot of awesome stories that I am excited to read to kids. There are stories about history, adoption, divorce, feelings, guns, empowerment and different sorts of ability. The one stumbling block I found is that the language, and even subject matter is incredibly dated at times. In several of the stories, I would amend language as I was reading, to change words that are out of date, and considered offensive now, such as "My Brother Steven is Retarded." But for it's time, this is a groundbreaking book that teaches a lot about radical children's stories, specifically from my childhood, which feels important to my understanding of the literature's evolution in my lifetime.
My other favorite story in the collection is one that has since been illustrated and published as it's own book; Toni and Slade Morrison's The Big Box.
I had just discovered this story this past year at a friends house, borrowed the illustrated book, and have yet to give it back. (Sorry L and S!) I have to prioritize getting my own copy because it is truly one of my favorite books I have ever read.
The Big Box is the story of how children are expected to behave in certain ways, pushed to the side, and not treated with the respect they deserve. Ok... perhaps this is not a book for very small children. It is pretty wordy, even with beautifully illustrated pages, and the meaning is pretty deep, but I think it could be read with kids over 5 or 6, and discuss with them how they feel like they are treated by adults.
I also think that this book is challenging for adults. It brings up ways in which we marginalize children and try to brush off their needs, often with possessions and inauthentic authoritarian rules.
The book version is beautifully illustrated by Giselle Potter, and makes the meaning of the story translate with so much more passion than the text alone. I would highly recommend checking it out.
Though I had not planned on re-visiting Free to Be, You and Me for this particular project, reading Stories For Free Children makes me think I should. In the context of the history of radical children's literature, even though it was a television special and record album, I think that the impact of these two works in succession shaped a generation searching for a new way to raise kids. I know that Free to Be, You and Me played a huge part in my beginning to explore identity, especially around gender.
So, off to the library I go. To revisit my old friends... "There's a land that I see, where the children are free. And they say it ain't far to this land from where we are."
I wonder... is it too outdated to make an impact on a new generation? Is there a need for a new soundtrack as well as new radical tales to tell our kids?
Friday, October 29, 2010
In the Interest of Transparency
In my second post I mentioned my aversion to being labeled "middle class," and how it was a complicated topic that I would return to at a later date. Well, I think that is today.
I have been writing and thinking and talking and listening and reading a lot about social class these past few weeks. It is a touchy, tricky subject. In some ways, I was hesitant to dissect it further in the context of this blog, but I think it is important. Not only is it important that my background and identity be transparent in this process, so that my own biases and missteps can be brought to the foreground, but the topic of class is virtually non-existent in children's books. When it is addressed, like so much else we aim at kids, it is in a formulaic, or, worse, romanticized way.
My upbringing was in a middle class family. My parents both went to college, as did all four of their parents. Even though in much of their adult lives my parents shunned the "comforts" they had been raised with, there is no way to rescind that privilege.
My story is much the same. I was raised in a home that my grandparents owned, and always had access to a car, new clothes, and abundant "educational opportunities." In more recent years I have lived in houses with up to 14 roommates, an old ambulance, and various basements and sheds. I have been on social assistance and fallen into the governmental bracket of "impoverished" for most of my adult life. But, regardless of these scenarios, I remain "middle class."
One of the things I have come to realize lately about class is that it isn't something you can "undo" just because you are unemployed, or living your life in a different wealth bracket than the one you were raised in. Class is about access. Like so many other aspects of "privilege," when you have it, it can take some effort to see how it benefits you, and hinders those without it.
I have been reading an incredible new book by Leticia Nieto and her co-authors called Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, which talks about the intricate dynamics of oppression and privilege. ( I highly recommend this amazing book, which I hope to be using in the future in more depth to look at how it can be applied to children's literature.) It is an incredible book to be reading to start to identify what these pieces of our identity that include race, class, culture, religion, gender, and ability are and how they affect our interactions with the world and each other.
Some of the questions that come up for me about class in the context of children's literature, is asking the question of who is telling these stories? And what are the assumptions that are being made about who is reading the book, and what the "social norm" the reader is expected to identify with, or strive for?
One of the hardest things that I have been confronting lately about my own desire to write books is "Does the world really need one more book written by a white, middle class, person in a hetero relationship?" I have been filled with a lot of doubt and questions about my desire to write, what perspective I can authentically write from, and if those perspectives are actually useful to the world of radical literature I want to create? I hope that the answer is "YES!" It just might look different than I thought it would. I might look like me collaborating with folks, or writing about confronting the issues of race, class, gender, etc, from the perspective that I am viewing it from, including how I am trying to be a better ally to groups of folks targeted by oppression.
The truth is, I am not sure where this all will lead. I still want to write, and illustrate books for kids that show so many perspectives that I think are currently missing in the world of children's literature. But I think the way that is going to unfold is going to be of narrower focus, from my own focus, than I once would have envisioned. And I think that is good.
Without diverging too much from the topic at hand, I also want to note how much I think this comes into play with the topic of "multicultural" books for kids, and just who is writing these books. This is another topic that I plan to get in depth with in the future. I think that in the interest of bringing diverse images and stories to children, we often are speaking from experiences, and telling stories that are not our own, and end up tokenizing the very group of people we hoped to support.
Is there a way to address diversity without tokenizing? I think there is. And I know there are lots of people doing it. And I need to explore this question so much more.
OK... I feel like I could write for hours about my unpeeling of this onion. But I'll end it here for now.
Next post, back to the list....
I have found some beautiful, incredible children's books that I am excited to share with you.
Thanks for reading this.
See you soon.
I have been writing and thinking and talking and listening and reading a lot about social class these past few weeks. It is a touchy, tricky subject. In some ways, I was hesitant to dissect it further in the context of this blog, but I think it is important. Not only is it important that my background and identity be transparent in this process, so that my own biases and missteps can be brought to the foreground, but the topic of class is virtually non-existent in children's books. When it is addressed, like so much else we aim at kids, it is in a formulaic, or, worse, romanticized way.
My upbringing was in a middle class family. My parents both went to college, as did all four of their parents. Even though in much of their adult lives my parents shunned the "comforts" they had been raised with, there is no way to rescind that privilege.
My story is much the same. I was raised in a home that my grandparents owned, and always had access to a car, new clothes, and abundant "educational opportunities." In more recent years I have lived in houses with up to 14 roommates, an old ambulance, and various basements and sheds. I have been on social assistance and fallen into the governmental bracket of "impoverished" for most of my adult life. But, regardless of these scenarios, I remain "middle class."
One of the things I have come to realize lately about class is that it isn't something you can "undo" just because you are unemployed, or living your life in a different wealth bracket than the one you were raised in. Class is about access. Like so many other aspects of "privilege," when you have it, it can take some effort to see how it benefits you, and hinders those without it.
I have been reading an incredible new book by Leticia Nieto and her co-authors called Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, which talks about the intricate dynamics of oppression and privilege. ( I highly recommend this amazing book, which I hope to be using in the future in more depth to look at how it can be applied to children's literature.) It is an incredible book to be reading to start to identify what these pieces of our identity that include race, class, culture, religion, gender, and ability are and how they affect our interactions with the world and each other.
Some of the questions that come up for me about class in the context of children's literature, is asking the question of who is telling these stories? And what are the assumptions that are being made about who is reading the book, and what the "social norm" the reader is expected to identify with, or strive for?
One of the hardest things that I have been confronting lately about my own desire to write books is "Does the world really need one more book written by a white, middle class, person in a hetero relationship?" I have been filled with a lot of doubt and questions about my desire to write, what perspective I can authentically write from, and if those perspectives are actually useful to the world of radical literature I want to create? I hope that the answer is "YES!" It just might look different than I thought it would. I might look like me collaborating with folks, or writing about confronting the issues of race, class, gender, etc, from the perspective that I am viewing it from, including how I am trying to be a better ally to groups of folks targeted by oppression.
The truth is, I am not sure where this all will lead. I still want to write, and illustrate books for kids that show so many perspectives that I think are currently missing in the world of children's literature. But I think the way that is going to unfold is going to be of narrower focus, from my own focus, than I once would have envisioned. And I think that is good.
Without diverging too much from the topic at hand, I also want to note how much I think this comes into play with the topic of "multicultural" books for kids, and just who is writing these books. This is another topic that I plan to get in depth with in the future. I think that in the interest of bringing diverse images and stories to children, we often are speaking from experiences, and telling stories that are not our own, and end up tokenizing the very group of people we hoped to support.
Is there a way to address diversity without tokenizing? I think there is. And I know there are lots of people doing it. And I need to explore this question so much more.
OK... I feel like I could write for hours about my unpeeling of this onion. But I'll end it here for now.
Next post, back to the list....
I have found some beautiful, incredible children's books that I am excited to share with you.
Thanks for reading this.
See you soon.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
THE LIST: Books I Like #1
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco is a book about an immigrant family from Russia and the quilt the Mama makes from fabric they brought from their homeland. The quilt is passed along through generations and used as, among other things, a birthday tablecloth, baby blanket, wedding huppa, and death shroud.
My favorite thing about this book, aside from the incredible art, is the family portrait it paints of "in-tact" family traditions. I love that the story shows different generations from an immigrant family, and how culture and tradition are passed along.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey This book was first published in 1948, but in many ways feels timely and fresh for today. I love the art in this book; I will probably say that about most of the books on this list because, for me, art is an incredibly important part of what makes a great kids book.
My favorite thing about this book, aside from the incredible art, is the family portrait it paints of "in-tact" family traditions. I love that the story shows different generations from an immigrant family, and how culture and tradition are passed along.
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey This book was first published in 1948, but in many ways feels timely and fresh for today. I love the art in this book; I will probably say that about most of the books on this list because, for me, art is an incredibly important part of what makes a great kids book.
Blueberries for Sal follows a mama and child as they pick blueberries to preserve for winter.
There are several things that I appreciate about this book. First, the themes of self sufficiency and providing for our own food needs, (from the wild, in this case.) I love that they are foraging and canning.
Another aspect of this book I love is the mama and child's relationship with the bear mama and child. Their relationship is one of neighbors sharing a living area. The human mom is certainly surprised to see the bear cub, and not her child, following her, but the story gives the sense of the humans and other animals being able to co-exist.
The thing I love the most about this book, especially for the era in which it was written, is the gender presentation of Sal, the child. Sal has androgynous looks and name, and even though she is referred to as "she," doesn't fit neatly into a gender stereotype.
Aside from being pretty progressive for a book from 1948 to show a little girl getting dirty in overalls, it is also a beautiful picture of an adult respecting a child's autonomy. Sal is not hovered over, but allowed to explore, graze and have adventures at her own pace.
And did I mention how beautiful the pictures are?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
A Few Questions for You
So now I need your input.
Once you have read the previous few posts... I am curious...
Are there any books from your childhood that have stuck in your memory? Have you gone back and reread them as an adult, with a critical eye? What do you notice now that you didn't then? Do you think that an image or idea stuck with you in any way that you hadn't realized? Would you read this book with your child? Are there any books that you have come across that you would remove from your bookshelf, and for what reasons?
Also, what are the books that you have come across that you are excited to share with the kids in your life? What are the images or messages that you love most about these books?
I am excited to hear the ways you are all thinking about the stories we are passing along to kids! Please share!
Once you have read the previous few posts... I am curious...
Are there any books from your childhood that have stuck in your memory? Have you gone back and reread them as an adult, with a critical eye? What do you notice now that you didn't then? Do you think that an image or idea stuck with you in any way that you hadn't realized? Would you read this book with your child? Are there any books that you have come across that you would remove from your bookshelf, and for what reasons?
Also, what are the books that you have come across that you are excited to share with the kids in your life? What are the images or messages that you love most about these books?
I am excited to hear the ways you are all thinking about the stories we are passing along to kids! Please share!
On the Essay "A Plea for Radical Children's Literature"
The third essay in Herbert Kohl's book, Should We Burn Babar is titled "A Plea for Radical Children's Literature."
One of the first things he addresses is how, though there is an increasing "personal and social sensitivity represented in young adult literature today, there is an almost total absence of books, fiction or nonfiction, that question the economic and social structure of our society and the values of capitalism."
I am a devoted children's literature reader. Long before I had kids, I had a collection of both picture books and juvenile fiction that presented alternatives the the social norms I saw represented in most kids books. I was, and am, always on the look out for books that show strong female characters, empowered youth, adults that respect children, diverse families, DIY ethics including collective living and working and making things by hand, and people living outside the assumed norm of nuclear family, two-car garage, middle-class America.
My list is growing, if slowly, but I have noticed the same thing that Khol speaks of pertaining to questioning economic and social structure. There are an increasing number of books that deal with revising the role that girls play in fairy tales, but they still take place in the typical fairy tale settings of the white, wealthy, ruling class. This is similar for many of the books I have found with "same-sex" couples.
Even though my focus is on picture books, and not chapter books, I have found it much the same in these books as well. There are great juvenile fiction books/series that have lots of diversity in their characters, and show them encountering many real world situations that teens face including death, pregnancy, and struggles around sexual orientation. But where are the books that are taking it to that next step? Where are the books that are challenging the social norms that govern our culture? Where are the books that show alternatives to capitalism and the insinuated goal of the "American Dream?"
One series of picture books I've found that begins to deal with this topic are the "Henry" books, written and illustrated by D.B. Johnson. These books are based on the writings of Henry David Thoreau, and Henry and his friends are re-imagined as bears. The first book in the four book series, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg tells the story of Henry and his friend who both want to make the journey to Fitchberg. Henry's friend decides that he will work to earn the money to take the train, while Henry chooses to spend the time walking to Fitchburg instead.
The basic question the book deals with is how people spend their time, and how they interact with their surroundings. The fact that the book is beautifully illustrated is a bonus to it's thought provoking message, but I think that the most important part is that it is well written. It doesn't matter what sorts of radical ideas are set forth if no kid will sit still to listen to the story. As Kohl writes, "Radical tales should nurture the social imagination and at the same time not be dogmatic or preachy."
The subsequent "Henry" books, Henry Builds a Cabin, Henry Climbs a Mountain and Henry Works are equally as thought provoking, beautiful and well written. All of the stories are taken from ideas found in Thoreau's work, and deal with ideas around simple living, paying taxes, and the definition of work.
Another major point in Kohl's essay is what I would call "Social Movements vs. Exceptional Individuals." Kohl points out the disservice that we do to children, to all people, by telling stories (and retelling history) where one exceptional individual overcomes adversity to succeed, in whatever way, when the truth behind history, and the majority of real life examples, is much more complex.
"Books that deal with poor people concern the efforts of individual youngsters or families to escape poverty. Books on social movements center on leaders and on participants who have performed individually heroic actions, not on the building of movements and the power of people united in struggle."
pg 59
Kohl writes about how nurturing hope and painting images of a world that could be free of oppression could be key to "sparking utopian and hopeful imaginings" that could lead to creative social change.
"When there are no examples of stories for young people that fundamentally question the world as it might be, resignation, defiance, or the quest for personal success become the only imaginable options unless the young have other sources for generating hope."
pg 63
The idea of "exceptional individuals" as opposed to "movements of people" seems like a story we are told, and tell children, over and over again: think Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, or Rosa Parks. In another of Kohl's essays in this book, he deals in depth with the fallacy of the story we tell about the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. By painting Rosa Parks as a tired old woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus out of stubbornness and exhaustion, we take away the power of the true movement for social change behind the actual story. We do a disservice to all people by mis-telling history in this way. To show this moment as exceptional individual action makes us believe that the people who create social change are born with some sort of special quality. The more empowering, and much more complex truth that we could be telling children would be about how we are all capable of creating such change.
"I've come to realize how important it is for young people to hear tales of justice, to learn the sorrows and joys of trying to make a better world."
pg 64
I am interested in searching further for such books: Books that paint empowering images of social change, books that show movements and struggles. Are there any more out there now than there were 15 years ago when Khol was doing his own research? Has the state of children's literature changed, or are we in the same anchored boat, teaching our children to row, and wondering why we reach adulthood without much movement?
In my next posts I am also going to start to detail a list of books that I have found to be liberating and socially positive in one way or another. Very few of them are "100% awesome." The best kid's book I know about gay marriage is also set in a fairy tale using the images of kings and queens and the rest. Some of the most empowering books about gender are still mostly about white people. And, as Khol pointed out, there still are almost none that "question the economic and social structure of our society and the values of capitalism."
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Stories We Tell
I think a lot about what kinds of things I want to make a special effort to share with my kids. What are the images and stories I want them to hear about the world, and their place in it.
There isn't some dogma I am tied to, or some liberal, middle-class "Perfect Mom" ideal that I am striving to achieve. I am not, and have no desire to be middle-class, or liberal. And I don't believe in those glossy media notions of the "good" or "perfect" mom. My partner and I are working class, solidly where the government considers us "impoverished." (Which, even when struggling to pay our bills, I acknowledge how much relative wealth and privilege we have. Incredible privilege, actually. But more on that at a later date.)
I also don't identify as a "Liberal." My beliefs about government, community, environmental issues, capital and commerce are deeper into the roots of the issues. I prefer to discuss and work on the origins of the issue and how we can change things at their depths, instead of just bandaging the wounds. I think this leads to my interest in revolutionizing the ways we view and engage with childhood. Because, is our culture not born and reborn with every new generation?
Something that has become incredibly important to me is being aware of the messages about the world that we are passing along to children. We pass along the information that gives them their image of themselves and the world through language we use, the ways we interact, the activities we pursue, and encourage (or force) them to pursue. We pass these stories that become their facts about the world through various media, including movies, television, and books. We pass them along through the things they are taught in school, or perhaps more importantly, the way they are taught.
Some of the choices my partner and I have made so far include not having a television in our house, or showing our kids videos (on any device, at home or not.) I would love if the "no TV/movie" thing lasted until they were teens, but I realize that is virtually impossible. As it is, at almost two years old, they have never watched Dora the Explorer or Yo Gabba Gabba, or anything other than and eight second clip of their cousin doing a somersault. (And now they can't pass the computer without demanding " Baby! Baby! Baby!")
We also got rid of a bunch of racist records from my childhood, regardless of how charming the music was. These included a Burl Ives album and Disney's Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby.
And we are REALLY picky about the kids books we keep around.
In the title essay of Should We Burn Babar by Herbert Kohl, the author uses the Babar books by Laurent de Brunhoff to discuss troubling aspects of some children's literature considered "classic."
"In Babar the reader learns that there are different classes of people and the Rich Lady is of the better (that is richer) class. And that the elephants are not as good as people, but might be if they imitate people. Was I aware of those distinctions as a child? Did I learn to admire the rich from reading the book?Did I also learn about the inferiority of creatures from the jungle (people included)?"
pg 7
And so he asks,
"Was Babar so offensive that it should be eliminated? Or so powerful an influence that it was dangerous to young children? More generally, if literature has an influence on children's behavior, then the classics may present a problem for parents and teacher if their content portrays, sanctions, and even models inequity. What to do about kings and princesses? About the triumph of strong and the mocking of the weak? About the glorification of wealth and the sanction of "deserved" poverty? About the portrayal of some people as civilized and others as savage? Should books that represent these antidemocratic sentiments be a major part of our children's earliest repertoire of stories and tales, or should we avoid purchasing them and sharing them with our children?"
pg 4
Kohl further discusses the images of power, civilization, class, and the underlying racism within the Babar books.
Kohl brings up the question of whether or not we should throw away any books with values contrary to our own.
"Should children be protected from many of the classics of children's literature if these works seem to celebrate oppression, embody racism or provide images of women as subordinate to men?"
pg 13
Kohl suggest that avoiding all stories, toys and images that don't jibe with our own beliefs is virtually impossible. He goes on to say that introducing our kids to these things and then engaging in critical discussion with them about it is perhaps the best way to deal with it.
"However, read uncritically, there is always the possibility that a book like Babar can contribute to the formation of stereotypes and attitudes that might be reinforced by other reading, by TV, and by the nature and shape of the toys manufactured for children's use. Children's books contribute to the formation of culture, and some books, can even transform the way children look at and relate to the world."
pg 23
Kohl concludes his essay by saying,
"I'd use Babar only if the children had been surrounded by a wealth of books and stories and tales."
"If there were only a few books a child had access to, it would be foolish to select any that have racial, class or sexual bias woven into their content."
pg 29
I love Kohl's statements about engaging kids in critical discussion, and he points out that this can be done with children as young as toddlers. The task of raising critical thinkers instead of passive consumers of information is an important one. I think this, and clear communication are two of the top skills I hope to help my daughters learn. However, I still think that there is plenty they will be exposed to that can provide opportunities for these discussions.
I'd venture to say that the vast majority of children's books available are biased in directions I feel no need to enforce in my children's minds. There is plenty of that in the culture at large. I would like to share with my children books that focus on cooperation, diversity of culture, and diversity of lifestyle, among other things. These books are harder to come by than you'd think. Then, if you are looking for them to be non-stereotypical about gender, and on top of that be well-written and beautifully illustrated, you whittle it down much, much more.
I think that the messages passed along by the whole of the jumble of children's books are not even as blatantly racist and classist as Babar. I think that, in some ways, the things that are less obvious that we are teaching them about the world are the ones I am more interested in dissecting. I'd bet that most people, even those who read their kids Sleeping Beauty at night, could tell you why lots of fairy tales are sexist. But what about the power issues in the classic The Runaway Bunny, or the assumed norm of "whiteness" in kids' book illustrations. How about the very specific cultural assumption that all babies sleep in cribs and drink from bottles? Or that everyone is "able-bodied" and families are of a single race, and generally middle class?
What are the assumed mainstream cultural ethics and values in these books? If detailed outside of a story about bunnies or fishies, would we as adults even agree that these are the pieces of our culture we wish to propagate?
I'd like to repeat what Herbert Kohl wrote...
"Children's books contribute to the formation of culture and some books can even transform the way children look at and relate to the world."
I'd venture to take it one step further and say that the stories we tell children are vital in the weaving of the future world they will grow up and exist in. Perhaps we should start to look closer at what we are teaching them are the "truths" of the world?
There isn't some dogma I am tied to, or some liberal, middle-class "Perfect Mom" ideal that I am striving to achieve. I am not, and have no desire to be middle-class, or liberal. And I don't believe in those glossy media notions of the "good" or "perfect" mom. My partner and I are working class, solidly where the government considers us "impoverished." (Which, even when struggling to pay our bills, I acknowledge how much relative wealth and privilege we have. Incredible privilege, actually. But more on that at a later date.)
I also don't identify as a "Liberal." My beliefs about government, community, environmental issues, capital and commerce are deeper into the roots of the issues. I prefer to discuss and work on the origins of the issue and how we can change things at their depths, instead of just bandaging the wounds. I think this leads to my interest in revolutionizing the ways we view and engage with childhood. Because, is our culture not born and reborn with every new generation?
Something that has become incredibly important to me is being aware of the messages about the world that we are passing along to children. We pass along the information that gives them their image of themselves and the world through language we use, the ways we interact, the activities we pursue, and encourage (or force) them to pursue. We pass these stories that become their facts about the world through various media, including movies, television, and books. We pass them along through the things they are taught in school, or perhaps more importantly, the way they are taught.
Some of the choices my partner and I have made so far include not having a television in our house, or showing our kids videos (on any device, at home or not.) I would love if the "no TV/movie" thing lasted until they were teens, but I realize that is virtually impossible. As it is, at almost two years old, they have never watched Dora the Explorer or Yo Gabba Gabba, or anything other than and eight second clip of their cousin doing a somersault. (And now they can't pass the computer without demanding " Baby! Baby! Baby!")
We also got rid of a bunch of racist records from my childhood, regardless of how charming the music was. These included a Burl Ives album and Disney's Bre'r Rabbit and the Tar Baby.
And we are REALLY picky about the kids books we keep around.
In the title essay of Should We Burn Babar by Herbert Kohl, the author uses the Babar books by Laurent de Brunhoff to discuss troubling aspects of some children's literature considered "classic."
"In Babar the reader learns that there are different classes of people and the Rich Lady is of the better (that is richer) class. And that the elephants are not as good as people, but might be if they imitate people. Was I aware of those distinctions as a child? Did I learn to admire the rich from reading the book?Did I also learn about the inferiority of creatures from the jungle (people included)?"
pg 7
And so he asks,
"Was Babar so offensive that it should be eliminated? Or so powerful an influence that it was dangerous to young children? More generally, if literature has an influence on children's behavior, then the classics may present a problem for parents and teacher if their content portrays, sanctions, and even models inequity. What to do about kings and princesses? About the triumph of strong and the mocking of the weak? About the glorification of wealth and the sanction of "deserved" poverty? About the portrayal of some people as civilized and others as savage? Should books that represent these antidemocratic sentiments be a major part of our children's earliest repertoire of stories and tales, or should we avoid purchasing them and sharing them with our children?"
pg 4
Kohl further discusses the images of power, civilization, class, and the underlying racism within the Babar books.
Kohl brings up the question of whether or not we should throw away any books with values contrary to our own.
"Should children be protected from many of the classics of children's literature if these works seem to celebrate oppression, embody racism or provide images of women as subordinate to men?"
pg 13
Kohl suggest that avoiding all stories, toys and images that don't jibe with our own beliefs is virtually impossible. He goes on to say that introducing our kids to these things and then engaging in critical discussion with them about it is perhaps the best way to deal with it.
"However, read uncritically, there is always the possibility that a book like Babar can contribute to the formation of stereotypes and attitudes that might be reinforced by other reading, by TV, and by the nature and shape of the toys manufactured for children's use. Children's books contribute to the formation of culture, and some books, can even transform the way children look at and relate to the world."
pg 23
Kohl concludes his essay by saying,
"I'd use Babar only if the children had been surrounded by a wealth of books and stories and tales."
"If there were only a few books a child had access to, it would be foolish to select any that have racial, class or sexual bias woven into their content."
pg 29
I love Kohl's statements about engaging kids in critical discussion, and he points out that this can be done with children as young as toddlers. The task of raising critical thinkers instead of passive consumers of information is an important one. I think this, and clear communication are two of the top skills I hope to help my daughters learn. However, I still think that there is plenty they will be exposed to that can provide opportunities for these discussions.
I'd venture to say that the vast majority of children's books available are biased in directions I feel no need to enforce in my children's minds. There is plenty of that in the culture at large. I would like to share with my children books that focus on cooperation, diversity of culture, and diversity of lifestyle, among other things. These books are harder to come by than you'd think. Then, if you are looking for them to be non-stereotypical about gender, and on top of that be well-written and beautifully illustrated, you whittle it down much, much more.
I think that the messages passed along by the whole of the jumble of children's books are not even as blatantly racist and classist as Babar. I think that, in some ways, the things that are less obvious that we are teaching them about the world are the ones I am more interested in dissecting. I'd bet that most people, even those who read their kids Sleeping Beauty at night, could tell you why lots of fairy tales are sexist. But what about the power issues in the classic The Runaway Bunny, or the assumed norm of "whiteness" in kids' book illustrations. How about the very specific cultural assumption that all babies sleep in cribs and drink from bottles? Or that everyone is "able-bodied" and families are of a single race, and generally middle class?
What are the assumed mainstream cultural ethics and values in these books? If detailed outside of a story about bunnies or fishies, would we as adults even agree that these are the pieces of our culture we wish to propagate?
I'd like to repeat what Herbert Kohl wrote...
"Children's books contribute to the formation of culture and some books can even transform the way children look at and relate to the world."
I'd venture to take it one step further and say that the stories we tell children are vital in the weaving of the future world they will grow up and exist in. Perhaps we should start to look closer at what we are teaching them are the "truths" of the world?
Monday, October 4, 2010
Mama First!
I just have to start by saying how excited I am to be reading these books, thinking about these things, and working on this project! Right now there aren't enough hours in the day to devote to it as I would like. I sneak in a chapter from "Should We Burn Babar" by Herbert Kohl while nursing my babies down for their nap. I furiously underline text and scribble in the margins of 'The Child and the Book" by Nicholas Tucker while stealing a few extra minutes of private time in the loo. (It's sad but true. If you are a parent, you know what I mean!)
I have so many books that keep getting added to the queue, both books of critique and picture books, that it is looking like this three month project may stretch into six months. I am even lining up books, and writing down ideas for the future projects that will emerge from the work I am doing now.
I am so compelled to do this research, have this dialogue, to create resources for parents and books for kids. And then I have to take a deep breath and know that doing fifteen minute chunks of work thirty times a day is how it is going to be right now because my amazing, beautiful, full-time gig is being Mama to these two clever little imps. That giving them (giving all kids) the respect and attention they deserve is one of the overarching messages of my larger project.
So I am going to read and write and blog and discuss, scour the internet, mine the kids book area at the library and the bookstore. I am going to figure out how to do it all in energetic bursts so that dinner still gets cooked, bills get paid, and two curious, talkative toddlers get the most present, loving Mama I can be.
I have so many books that keep getting added to the queue, both books of critique and picture books, that it is looking like this three month project may stretch into six months. I am even lining up books, and writing down ideas for the future projects that will emerge from the work I am doing now.
I am so compelled to do this research, have this dialogue, to create resources for parents and books for kids. And then I have to take a deep breath and know that doing fifteen minute chunks of work thirty times a day is how it is going to be right now because my amazing, beautiful, full-time gig is being Mama to these two clever little imps. That giving them (giving all kids) the respect and attention they deserve is one of the overarching messages of my larger project.
So I am going to read and write and blog and discuss, scour the internet, mine the kids book area at the library and the bookstore. I am going to figure out how to do it all in energetic bursts so that dinner still gets cooked, bills get paid, and two curious, talkative toddlers get the most present, loving Mama I can be.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The Plan...
In a couple of weeks I am starting a project. The main focus of this project will be to survey and study children's literature, mostly picture books, from the mid to late 20th and early 21st centuries. I will be studying classics from the canon of children's books written in English, as well as more contemporary, popular books. I will also be looking at the small section of books available that have a more overt socially conscious message or agenda. I will be looking at these books with an eye to their relationship with class, race, gender, sexuality, ability issues, ecology, capitalism and consumption.
I will to attempt to illustrate the ways in which we pass along certain cultural memes through the stories and images we aim at children, both consciously and unconsciously. How a large section of children's books are passing along a very narrow set of values and lifestyles. How there is a marked need for children's literature that offers more diversity in presenting politics, lifestyle and values, whether subtly or overtly.
I will be documenting my research by blogging about the books I am reading, and addressing the social messages they convey.
My goal is to compile my research in a few months time to be self-published as a zine.
Another part of this project will be to come up with an a list of books that show diversity in gender, race, class, ways of living and working and family structure as well as more progressive and radical ideas around these issues. I will also compile a list of books that should be noted for the racist, classist, and sexist ideas they present.
To support my research, I will be reading and researching other work previously done in and around this topic. A few of these books include, "Tales for Little Rebels :A Collection of Radical Children's Literature," "Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories," "Waking Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Voices in Children's Novels" and "Stories for Free Children."
I will to attempt to illustrate the ways in which we pass along certain cultural memes through the stories and images we aim at children, both consciously and unconsciously. How a large section of children's books are passing along a very narrow set of values and lifestyles. How there is a marked need for children's literature that offers more diversity in presenting politics, lifestyle and values, whether subtly or overtly.
I will be documenting my research by blogging about the books I am reading, and addressing the social messages they convey.
My goal is to compile my research in a few months time to be self-published as a zine.
Another part of this project will be to come up with an a list of books that show diversity in gender, race, class, ways of living and working and family structure as well as more progressive and radical ideas around these issues. I will also compile a list of books that should be noted for the racist, classist, and sexist ideas they present.
To support my research, I will be reading and researching other work previously done in and around this topic. A few of these books include, "Tales for Little Rebels :A Collection of Radical Children's Literature," "Should We Burn Babar?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories," "Waking Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Voices in Children's Novels" and "Stories for Free Children."
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