Review: Jack Jackson's The Alamo

Why did I JUST find out about Jack Jackson?!  He was a comic artist from Texas who created multiple graphic histories about various periods in Texas history.  Sadly, he passed away in 2006, but he left behind a treasure trove of work that can be enjoyed by older students -- high school, college -- and adults.

(via Sam Jackson & The Austin Chronicle)

As you might know, I'm very interested in how authors and illustrators present stories from Texas history in children's and young adult books.  In general, I've found that histories for young people tend to:

1) Glorify the Anglo (white) involvement in historical events,

2) Ignore, disdain, or even demonize other ethnic and cultural groups taking part in Texas history (Mexican, Tejano, Indian, Asian, African-American/Texan),

3) Present legend as historical fact.

History is more complicated than that, and I'd like to see more books that present multiple perspectives and actual factual information.  That's why I was so excited to discover Jackson's work at Million Year Picnic in Boston two weeks ago, and I bought two books -- Los Tejanos and The Alamo: An Epic Told From Both Sides.

So far, I've only finished The Alamo, and while I definitely enjoyed and appreciated this work, some aspects of Jackson's storytelling bothered me.  But I'll start my review with the the high points.

First, Jackson really does present the story of the Alamo from both sides. Not only does he achieve this goal, he also includes multiple perspectives within the two sides of the battle.  On the Texas side, we hear from Anglo combatants, Tejano combatants (like Juan Seguin), and civilians.  Meanwhile, we also hear from various players on the Mexican side -- General Santa Anna, officers, and regular soldiers (both mestizo and indigenous).

Both sides presented in one panel.

Another feature of the book that I liked was Jackson's treatment of controversial events.  When it comes to this battle, we have to accept that we will never know the absolute truth about what happened: too many eyewitness accounts conflict with each other, and we lack written records about certain occurrences.  In The Alamo, Jackson typically presents disputed facts with a brief note explaining differing opinions about what happened, thereby acknowledging that historiography is a tricky game.

However, this practice is not consistent, and I was dismayed to see that Jackson did not provide explanatory notes for two of the most controversial tales of the battle -- Travis' line in the sand and Davy Crockett's death.  He does address those legends in the epilogue of the book, but why not in the text itself?  I don't understand why he would take the time to confront other disputed stories and not tackle the two of the most famous legends.

He did, however, point out the Crockett legend in his 2007 

publication New Texas History Movies, so that's good.

Also, I wasn't pleased with the way Jackson depicts women in his illustrations.  Simply put, almost every single woman we see is... busty.  Extremely so.  I showed the book to my boyfriend, and he responded, "Whoa, nice," followed by, "That is ridiculous, though."  There you have it.  Yes, comics have a history of emphasizing female characters' assets, but that's no excuse. 

Overall, I'm grateful for this book, and I definitely recommend it.  However, it's a prime example of why we need to be critical readers, even with books we love.  No piece of literature is perfect, so we always need to be vigilant and confront problematic elements that we come across. 

So I encourage you to take a look at Jackson's Texas history books -- there are lots of them.  I'm going to start Los Tejanos today and then move onto Comanche Moon (which will hopefully provide a more balanced presentation of Native American perspectives).  Happy reading!

Related Posts:

How Should We Remember the Alamo?

Lies My (Texas History) Teacher Told Me

Cultural Studies Classes in Texas

KidLit in Yankee-Land

Greetings from Boston!

 Proof.

We're here visiting family and enjoying all of the touristy things -- like walking about 8.6 miles yesterday (and that's a conservative estimate).  I had wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, but no car = no road trips.  I'll get there one day, so it's OK.

However, we were able to walk down to the Children's Book Shop in Brookline!

Founded in 1977, it's the oldest independent children's bookstore in the greater Boston area, and it's adorable and cozy.

I scoured the place to see what kinds of books they had, and I was pleased to see that they had a good selection of bilingual (Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese!) and multicultural books.  Of course, I wish they'd had more, but there wasn't enough room for a vast amount.  Still the books they had on display were very diverse, which is great considering how many different cultural communities there are in Boston.

Not books ABOUT India -- books FROM India :)

What really pleased me, though, was their prominent display of Parrots over Puerto Rico -- recent winner of the Silbert and Américas Awards -- in the natural science section.  How wonderful to see diverse kidlit dispersed throughout the store and not confined to the multicultural section!

(Update: I've been wondering about the merits of having a separate multicultural section at all.  Yes, it makes diverse books easier to find, but isn't it a form of segregation?)

Check it out -- it's amazing!

Overall, I'll give the Children's Book Shop 4 out of 5 stars.  They lose a star because some of the books on display were iffy (Tintin comics), and their Native American selection wasn't ideal (Arrow to the Sun).  However, they're free to sell whatever they want, and I don't condone banning books, so I'm not mad at them.  

So next time you're in Boston, make a trip to this shop and support a local business that's doing its part to promote diverse children's literature!

P.S. A picture of a Little Free Library on Harvard's

campus because I CANNOT ESCAPE THEM NOW.

Little Free Libraries & Diverse KidLit

While leaving Avid Bookshop here in Athens a few days ago, I noticed what looked like a large birdhouse covered in bottle caps sitting on a post behind the store.  When I looked at it more closely, I saw that it was filled with books and bore a sign that read "Little Free Library."

This little box made me smile -- anyone can take or leave a book and share their favorite stories with the community.  I assumed it was just one of Avid's special projects until I saw another one in front of a bank a couple of days later.

My curiosity now piqued, I went online and looked up Little Free Library, and it turns out that these sweet little boxes are all over the world!  In fact, there are 17 in Athens alone, several of which are sponsored by READ Athens.  I had no clue these things existed, so I thought I'd share this information in case y'all didn't know about them either.

You can use the website's interactive map to find boxes in your area, and you can even build or order your own, register it, and start sharing books in your community.

The best part is that these libraries are a great opportunity to share your favorite multicultural books and introduce great authors and illustrators to your friends and neighbors.  Sharing more wonderful books means more fans of diverse kidlit.  So go for it!

On an even nerdier note, I decided to celebrate the end of the semester (YAY SUMMER) by combining my love of books and Instagram, and I went and took pictures of every Little Free Library in Athens.  I hope you appreciate my skilled use of filters (ha).  Enjoy!

Little Free Libraries: A Highfalutin Photoessay

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#17 (artwork by local painter Jamie Calkin!)

Take Action: Ukrainian-English Bilingual KidLit!

Ukrainian folk art by Maria Pryimachenko

Overhauled the blog layout for sum-sum-summertime!

So I've been teaching and working with multilingual kids for years now, and it's definitely not always easy to find bilingual books. Locating great Spanish-English bilingual children's literature has gotten somewhat easier lately, but it's still not a simple task.

Living in very diverse cities, however, meant that I taught students who had emigrated from all over the world, not just Spanish-speaking countries. The nations my kids represented included places like the Faroe Islands, Indonesia, and Nepal.

Forget about easily finding bilingual books for them.

I wish children from all linguistic backgrounds had access to a good selection of bilingual literature that affirmed their home languages and cultures.

Ukrainian folk art by Maria Pryimachenko

That's where Kickstarter comes in. My friend and colleague Oksana Lushchevska, a children's literature author and scholar from Ukraine, has developed a campaign that, if funded, would allow her to create and publish two Ukrainian-English picture books. I've seen her previous work, and trust me -- it's fantastic.

Here's the link to her Kickstarter website! Watch the video and read her description of the project to find out more about it.  And please consider donating. These books will not only afford Ukrainian-heritage children excellent bilingual reading experiences, but they'll also provide other children with a beautiful opportunity to connect with Ukrainian culture. As I said previously, it would be wonderful if all languages and cultures in the U.S. could be honored through children's literature, and this is a great place to start.

Check it out!


Related Posts

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

Diversity -- Why Not?

International Children's Literature

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

How beautiful is the We Need Diverse Books campaign?  It's been so cool to get on Twitter and see people from all different backgrounds speaking out for books that reflect the diversity of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and nationality in our world.

If you want to join the Twitter conversation, it's still going on!  Just send out a tweet that goes something like: "#WeNeedDiverseBooks because...."  Get your opinion out there -- I'd like to see how long we can keep it trending.  The Guardian, Salon, and Publishers Weekly (among others) have already put out articles about the campaign, so just imagine the change we can encourage with this attention!  We can create more demand for diverse books among consumers, inspire authors who want to write more diverse works, and show publishers how important this issue is to so many people.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite tweets from the last couple of days.  I'll start with the one that made me tear up:

We shouldn't stop with this social media campaign -- we must continue raising our voices and demanding more diverse children's literature.  Fortunately, there are many ways we can make a difference.  So...

• Write to publishers -- they are the ones ultimately responsible for what kinds of books are out there.
• Buy more diverse books published in the US and internationally.
• Check out diverse books at the library -- circulation matters!
• Tell friends, teachers, and librarians about your favorites.
• Read books critically and write reviews.
• Authors of all backgrounds: keep telling your stories.

Enjoy!