Diversity as Evolutionary in Children’s Literature: The Blog Effect
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.15.3.9Abstract
The call for better representation of African Americans in children’s literature can be traced back about eighty years through the works of social and literary leaders including Sterling Brown. In 1933, he wrote of the pervasiveness of stereotypes of African Americans in literature, happy slaves and the representation of African Americans in American literature.References
Sterling Brown. “Negro Character as Seen by White Authors,” Journal of Negro Education 2, no. 2 (1993), http://www.jstor.org/stable/3044046?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
Jessie Daniels and Polly Thistlewaite, Being a Scholar in the Digital Age (Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2016).
Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “Publishing Statistics on Children’s Books about People of Color and First/Native Nations and by People of Color and First/Native Nations Authors and Illustrators,” accessed September 19, 2016, https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp.
Meredith Nelson, “The Blog Phenomenon and the Book Publishing Industry,” Publishing Research Quarterly 22, no. 2 (Summer 2008), https://ezproxy.indstate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=22306966&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Mitali Perkins, “Writing Race: A Checklist for Writers,” Mitali’s Fire Escape (blog), accessed September 13, 2016, http://www.mitaliblog.com/2009/04/writing-race-checklist-for-writers.html.
Sarah Hochstetler et al., “‘The Biggest Surprise Was the Feeling of Empowerment’: Teachers Sharing Stories for Advocacy and Transformation,” Voices from the Middle 24, no. 1 (2016), https://ezproxy.indstate.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117920743&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Ari. Reading, “About Reading in Color,” Reading in Color (blog), accessed September 13, 2016, http://blackteensread2.blogspot.com/p/about-reading-in-color.html.
Edith Campbell, “About Courage 10: Ari,” CrazyQuiltEdi (blog), accessed September 19, 2016, https://campbele.wordpress.com/category/ari/.
Debbie Reese, “Not Recommended: A FINE DESSERT by Emily Jenkins and Sophie Blackall,” American Indians in Children’s Literature (blog), accessed on September 17, 2016, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/search?q=fine+dessert.
Debbie Reese, “‘What will they say . . .’ Or, Master Narratives of Smiling Slaves and Smiling Indians,” American Indians in Children’s Literature (blog), accessed on September 17, 2016, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/search?q=birthday+cake.
Elisa Gall, “A Fine Dessert: Sweet Intentions, Sour After Taste,” Trybrary (blog), accessed September 17, 2016, https://trybrary.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/a-fine-dessert-sweet-intentions-sour-aftertaste/.
E. Lockhart, comment on Megan Schliesman, “On Letting Go,” Reading While White (blog), November 1, 2015, 9:48 a.m., http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2015/10/on-letting-go.html?showComment=1446389284847%23c7763644794125015907.
Vicky Smith, “Smiling Slaves in a Post-A Fine Dessert World,” Kirkus, accessed September 17, 2016, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/smiling-slaves-post-fine-dessert-world/.
Edith Campbell, “Review: A Birthday Cake for George Washington,” CrazyQuiltEdi (blog), accessed September 30, 2016 https://campbele.wordpress.com/2016/01/13/book-review-a-birthday-cake-for-george-washington/.
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, “Children’s Literature about Slavery: The Struggle Continues,” Storify, accessed September 17, 2016, https://storify.com/Ebonyteach/children-s-literature-about-slavery-the-storm-cont.
Nathalie Mvondo, “On the Depiction of Slavery in Picture Books,” Multiculturalism Rocks (blog), accessed on September 17, 2016, https://multiculturalism.rocks/2016/01/08/on-the-depiction-of-slavery-in-picture-books/.
Atena Danner, “Tell Scholastic: STOP Promoting Racist, ‘Happy Slave’ Book to Children,” Change.org, accessed October, 17, 2016, https://www.change.org/p/scholastic-tell-scholastic-stop-promoting-racist-happy-slave-book-to-children.
Allyson Criner Brown, “Not Recommended: A Birthday Cake for George Washington,” Teaching for Change, accessed October 17, 2016, http://www.teachingforchange.org/gw-birthday-cake-not-recommended.
“New Statement about the Picture Book ‘A Birthday Cake for George Washington,’” On Our Minds: Scholastic’s Blog, accessed September 17, 2016, http://oomscholasticblog.com/post/new-statement-about-picture-book-birthday-cake-george-washington?linkId=20436402.
Robin DiAngelo, “White Fragility,” International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 3, no. 3 (2011): 54.
Justine Larbalestier, “On White Fragility, by Guest Blogger Justine Larbalestier,” Reading While White (blog), accessed March 1, 2017, http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2016/08/on-white-fragility-by-guest-blogger.html.
Roopika Risam, “Toxic Femininity 4.0,” First Monday, accessed March 2, 2017, http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5896/4417.
Robinson Meyer, “Twitter’s Famous Racist Problem,” The Atlantic, accessed March 2, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/07/twitter-swings-the-mighty-ban-hammer/492209/a.
e. E. Charlton-Trujillo, When We Was Fierce (unpublished manuscript, 2016).
Jennifer Baker, “Guest Review: When We Was Fierce,” CrazyQuiltEdi (blog), accessed September 30, 2016, https://campbele.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/guest-review-when-we-was-fierce/.
K. T. Horning, “When Whiteness Dominates Reviews,” Reading While White (blog), accessed October 13, 2016, http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/2016/07/when-whiteness-dominates-reviews.html.
Edith Campbell, “Review: When We Was Fierce,” CrazyQuiltEdi (blog), accessed October 13, 2016, https://campbele.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/review-when-we-was-fierce/.
Zetta Elliott. “Black Voices Matter,” Zetta Elliott (blog), accessed September 30, 2016, http://www.zettaelliott.com/black-voices-matter/.
Lauren Barack, “‘When We Was Fierce’ Pulled as Demand Grows for More #OwnVoices Stories,” School Library Journal, August 12, 2016, http://www.slj.com/2016/08/diversity/when-we-was-fierce-pulled-as-demand-grows-for-more-ownvoices-stories/.
Ambelin Kwaymullina,“Race, Reviews and Children’s Literature: Some Reflections on Recent Developments in the US—Guest Post by Ambelin Kwaymullina,” Alpha Reader (blog), accessed September 30, 2016, https://alphareader.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/race-reviews-and-childrens-literature.html.
Allison Flood, “Publisher Delays YA Novel Amid Row Over Invented Black ‘Street Dialect,’” Guardian, August 16, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/16/delays-ya-row-over-invented-black-vernacular-when-we-was-fierce.
Orianne Vialo, “Un livre sur la communauté afro-americain fait polemique aux USA,” ActuaLitté, accessed September 30, 2016, https://www.actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/un-livre-sur-la-communaute-afro-americaine-fait-polemique-aux-usa/66478.
Evelyn Jones, “Ungdomsbok stoppas efter kritick om kränkande dialekt,” Dagens Nyheter, accessed September 30, 2016, http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/ungdomsbok-stoppas-efter-kritik-om-krankande-dialekt/.
Sarah Park Dahlen, “On Autonomy: The Intersection of Ethnic Studies and Young Adult Literature,” VOYA 39, no. 2 (2016): 22–23.
Published
Issue
Section
License
In the event that an author's work is accepted for publication in CAL, the author is required to sign a copyright agreement with ALA/ALSC. For more information and/or to download the copyright forms, visit the ALA Publishing Web site.
Send correspondence to
Sharon Korbeck Verbeten
CAL editor
820 Spooner Ct.
De Pere, WI 54115
920-339-2740
CALeditor@yahoo.com