A World of Books: Seeking International Children's Literature

Image via Owen Gatley

I’m taking a course on international children’s literature this semester, so the subject has been on my mind a lot.  Here in the United States, we take our huge publishing industry for granted and sometimes assume that most of what we read originated here.  Sure, we know that authors like J.K. Rowling, Roald Dahl, and Beatrix Potter are/were British.  Many are also aware that L.M. Montgomery – who penned Anne of Green Gables – was Canadian.

But did you know that Marcus Pfister is Swiss, and that his ever-popular The Rainbow Fish was originally published in German?  Or that Pippi Longstocking and her creator, Astrid Lindgren, were Swedish?  I fell in love with Anno’s Alphabet and Anno’s Counting Book as a child and never knew that (Mitsumasa) Anno was Japanese.

Reading a wide range of books with international origins benefits children because it can make them aware of places, customs, and viewpoints outside their own cultural spheres.  Valuing such texts can help them appreciate the fact that the United States isn’t the only country in the world that matters.

However, it can be difficult to obtain picture books from other countries.  For example, I want to get my hands on more Latin American books, but until recently, I didn’t really know where to look -- and those big online booksellers aren't much help.  It’s become easier lately to find books by Latin@-American authors and illustrators at US bookstores, but books actually published in Bolivia or Guatemala or Colombia?  Not so much.

There are plenty of reasons why this dearth of international children’s lit exists.  Some countries just don’t publish a large amount of children’s books by local authors because they import books from other places, or their publishing companies don’t have enough capital to generate a large selection of books (Misheff, 1994; Stan, 1999).  Another issue is translation – it can be expensive and difficult to find translators here in the US, and translated books don’t sell as well as English-language books written by American authors (Freeman & Lehman, 2001).

The common factor: money.  Companies require lots of it to keep publishing and translating books, and if consumer demand isn’t there, then publishers look for more lucrative options.  Some countries, fortunately, have come up with solutions to this problem.  For example, Norway’s government provides subsidies to publishers, while Mexico has established an annual international children’s book fair (Stan, 1999).

Unfortunately, these solutions don’t always bring more books to our shores.  So now, having critically examined and questioned the situation, we need to come up with a plan of action to address the problem.  What can we (parents, teachers, and students) do to support international publishers and help bring more quality literature to the US from overseas?  My classmates, professor, and I did some brainstorming, and we came up with these ideas for increasing demand:     

• Seek out international publishers and buy their books.  (I’ve posted a few links below.)  Then share your finds with friends.

• Tell teachers and librarians at your / your child’s school about international publishers and awards, and encourage them to buy more international books.

• Promote International Children’s Book Day (April 2) at your school to inform other parents. 

• Use social media outlets to make people more aware of these issues.

• Write to companies that provide books to schools, educators, and families (like Scholastic) for more economical international book options in their order forms.

• Join/start a worldwide book exchange like this one. 

Have fun exploring, questioning, and making a difference!

(Shoutout to JG, MR, AL, YC, CB, OL, and XH for their great ideas and contributions :D)

Publisher and Book Resources

International Children’s Digital Library (various countries) 

OutsideIn World (various countries) 

CIDCLI (Mexico) 

Sigmar (Argentina) 

Ediciones Ekaré (Venezuela) 

House of Anansi / Groundwood (Canada) 

National Book Trust (India) 

International Book Awards

The American Library Association’s Batchelder Award (given to books originally published in a language other than English) 

The Marsh Award (for translation) 

References

Freeman, E.B., & Lehman, B.A. (2001). Global perspectives in children’s literature. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Misheff, S. (1994). Perspectives of children’s literature in Guatemala. Hispana, 77(3), 524-531.

National Book Trust. (2013). Introduction. Retrieved from http://www.nbtindia.gov.in/aboutus__5__history.nbt

Stan, S. (1999). Going global: World literature for American children. Theory into Practice, 38(3), 168-177.

The National Latino Children's Literature Conference

I'm thrilled to be going to the National Latino Children's Literature Conference this year!  It's March 13th and 14th in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the University of Alabama campus.  If you're into Latin@ children's lit and are in the area, you should definitely consider attending.

Among the keynote speakers are several Latina authors and illustrators, wonderful artists whom you should get to know if you haven't already:

• Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

• Lila Quintero Weaver

• Margarita Engle

• Laura Lacámara

• Meg Medina

I can't wait to hear what they and the other presenters have to share!

Tales of Disenchantment (Part Two)

Continued!

My children’s literature classes forced me to see that books about other cultures aren’t necessarily authentic or accurate.  Stereotypes can creep in, and since I come from the “dominant” culture in the United States (white, middle-class), I just didn’t notice their presence.  The result?  Disillusionment and guilt on my part.

Take, for example, Gerald McDermott’s very popular Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale.  I read this book to my students – as it was read to me during my early years – and they ate it up.  I loved the illustrations and just assumed that, because there was nothing overtly racist therein (or so it seemed to me), the book was an authentic presentation of Pueblo cultural practices.

However, I learned later that the contents of Arrow to the Sun are problematic.  Debbie Reese – scholar, founder of the “American Indians in Children’s Literature” blog, and member of the Pueblo (Nambe) nation – has written a great review of the book, in which she points out cultural inaccuracies in the text that those of us who are less familiar with Pueblo culture might miss.  She has explained the situation better than I can, so you can read her thoughts here.

The main point is that, by introducing texts like Arrow to the Sun without first examining them critically, we can unintentionally pass on false information and inaccurate understandings of cultural groups and practices to our kids.  Perpetuating ignorance, even if our intentions are good, won’t help children become critical thinkers or global citizens.

So does this mean that we should start scheduling book burnings?  No!  As Dr. Reese mentioned in her blog post, parents and teachers can use books like Arrow to the Sun to help their kids develop critical literacy skills and learn more about cultural awareness and sensitivity.  With adult support, children can explore the complicated situation of an author, like McDermott, who means well in attempting to portray another culture but misses the mark.  (I’ll dig deeper into this issue in future posts.)

Preparing for and engaging in discussions like these can be a lot of work for adults, but it’s worth it!  Parents and teachers can and should make the time to investigate books; consult various resources about multicultural literature (like these Great Children's Lit Links); and get kids to question, doubt, evaluate, and develop plans to address injustices.  You’ll be glad you did.

References

McDermott, G. (1977). Arrow to the sun: A Pueblo Indian tale. London, UK: Puffin.

Reese, D. (2006, October 25). Gerald McDermott's Arrow to the Sun. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/AICLMcDermott

Tales of Disenchantment (Part One)

NOTE: It is not my intention to question or insult the good intentions of any children’s authors or educators.  But we all make mistakes and need to discuss and learn from those mistakes in order to improve children’s literature, education, and multicultural awareness.

I never really thought about critically analyzing picture books when I was a teacher.  Well, I did in that I was careful to avoid using blatantly racist texts (à la Little Black Sambo) in my class, and I also encouraged my students to evaluate books: “Do you like this book?  Do you think this character did the right thing?”  But even though my class was very diverse and therefore an environment fit for fruitful discussions about cultural awareness, justice, and equity, I avoided introducing books that could foster discussions about race, family diversity (LGBT parents, divorce, adoption, etc.) and other taboo topics.

Yes, I was the teacher who hung posters depicting people of different ethnic backgrounds in my classroom.  I stocked the play areas with multiethnic dolls and action figures.  I praised my international students’ bilingual abilities and asked them about their experiences in their home countries.  But actually talking explicitly about diversity?  Nope.  As a new teacher, I cowered at the thought of parents  yelling at me for being too controversial.  I was also terrified of accidentally doing or saying the wrong thing, of being accused of playing the race card for not subscribing to the “Let’s Be Blissfully Colorblind” agenda. 

As a result, I feel that I missed out on being a better teacher.  Instead of making the effort to critically analyze books, I relied on “classics” that had been my favorites as a child.  Many of these books seemed to be multicultural – after all, they portrayed different cultures and didn’t (seem to) contain any stereotypes.  However, when I started my master’s program and began taking children’s literature courses, my choices as a teacher came back and punched me square in the nose.

Crit Lit: Some Basic Points

So what is critical literacy?  Why should we, as adults, examine children's literature critically?  Stated simply, critical literacy involves questioning what you read (or watch or see) and then taking action to address any inequities or injustices you’ve discovered (Freire, 1993).  In other words, it's a process in which readers identify biases in texts and then develop plans to confront these biases in real life.  Questions that we might ask include (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002):

• Whose voices are presented and omitted in this text?
• Do I agree with this text?
• How can I take action to challenge any injustices depicted?

Here's an example.  Imagine that you're thumbing through a children's book claiming to present information about an American Indian cultural group.  Before you start reading, you notice that the author is European American.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but as you navigate the book, you feel that some of the information presented is inaccurate.  In fact, quite a few stereotypes lurk in the pages.  You wonder: Whose perspective is left out of the text?  Would the information be more accurate and less stereotypical if the book had been written by a member of the cultural group instead of an outsider? 

Having recognized that Native voices are left out of the book, you then think of ways that you can address the stereotypes that you've discovered.  Fortunately, there are many ways to take action.  You might write a letter to the book's publisher explaining why you take issue with the portrayal of Native characters and cultural practices.  If you’re a teacher and/or parent, you might read the book with your kids and discuss the problematic text, helping them to understand why it's inaccurate or offensive.  Or if you’re very familiar with the tribe’s cultural practices and history, you might write and attempt to publish your own book that offers a more balanced, authentic view of the culture in question.

It’s all about making society more equitable, just, and tolerant.  Unfortunately, children can pick up skewed information about other cultures if they read books containing stereotypes or flat-out racism.  So it’s crucial for us to examine books closely and then teach kids to do the same.

For more info about this topic, I recommend reading Mary Cowhey’s Black Ants and Buddhists (2006) and Vivian Vasquez’s Negotiating Critical Literacies with Young Children (2004) – two great books about engaging in critical literacy with young children.  The more we adults learn about this topic, the more we can help our kids.

References

Cowhey, M. (2006). Black ants and Buddhists: Thinking critically and teaching differently in the primary grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Lewison, M., Flint, A.S., & Van Sluys, K. (2002). Taking on critical literacy: The journey of newcomers and novices. Language Arts, 5(2), 382-392.

Vasquez, V. (2004). Negotiating critical literacies with young children. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.