Review: Angela Johnson's All Different Now

Title: All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom
Author: Angela Johnson
Illustrator: E.B. Lewis
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Range: 8+

Attempting to learn about history from a textbook can be a dull, even futile effort.  As social studies education scholar Bruce VanSledright points out in his book The Challenge of Rethinking History: On Practices, Theories, and Policy (2011), textbooks present students with a number of obstacles that can hinder their acquisition of historical knowledge.  First, textbooks often gloss over historical happenings, "condensing rich, complex events into [...] compressed accounts" (p. 39) -- rushed, shallow, paragraph-long blurbs that can't possibly help readers build deep, nuanced interpretations about the past.  Instead, kids need to read various accounts (primary and secondary sources) that present different perspectives about historical events.  When they do so, they learn that history isn't quite as simple as a textbook might present it, and they begin to be able to handle constructively the dissonance that varying points of view can create -- a skill they'll need in the real world, a place full of diversity and sundry ways of being and thinking (Barton & Levstik, 2004).

Another problem with textbooks is that they often present history as a "fait accompli" (VanSledright, 2011, p. 79), a done deal or an open-and-shut account of events that can leave readers bored and wondering whether the past has any relevance in our present lives.  "Why should we care about what happened back then?" they might ask.  "Let's just memorize this boring story and get it over with."  But history has so much more to offer, and utilizing resources like All Different Now -- Angela Johnson's moving poem about a young girl learning on June 19, 1865 that she's free -- invites teachers and students to move beyond the textbook and reclaim the fascinating work of doing history.

What I really love about this book is how it brings the past to life and presents the first Juneteenth as a dynamic, open-ended occasion.  E. B. Lewis' illustrations -- watercolor representations of photographs -- look incredibly realistic, showing readers what people might really have looked like as they experienced their freedom for the first time.  Whereas textbooks often rely on flat, black-and-white photographs to represent the nineteenth century, these images are colorful and alive.  Children can clearly see that slaves were real people who had families, "worked [...] under the hot Texas sun" (Johnson, 2014, n.p.), and felt real joy when they learned about emancipation.

 

Moreover, Johnson's words and Lewis' illustrations convey to readers that the first Juneteenth and the following years were a complex period in history by implying that, after emancipation, things were "all different now," not "all better now."  Yes, readers will see the people in the book experiencing relief and happiness as they "ate as free people / laughed as free people / and told stories as free people" (Johnson, 2014, n.p.), but they will also see the uncertainty that many people felt as they moved forward into their new lives.  In the last two pages of the book, we read the words "all different now" and see the narrator's family leaving their slave quarters.  Their faces display a variety of emotions -- hope, concern, ambiguity.  While emancipation released Black Americans from the bonds of slavery, it wasn't the end of trouble, and many (if not most) former slaves faced continuing racism and violence.  I like how All Different Now acknowledges this reality and leaves the ending open.  The story isn't over; it's not an open-and-shut chapter in history; it's not a "fait accompli."

Juneteenth Memorial in Galveston

Introducing this book in the classroom and constructing lessons around it can provide students with learning opportunities to foster not only their historical thinking skills but also other academic abilities.  Reading All Different Now and other primary and secondary sources about Juneteenth (in addition to or in place of textbook reading) can allow students to compare multiple perspectives about the event, encouraging them to develop a more nuanced understanding about emancipation.  Also, teachers can help students connect past and present by investigating how Juneteenth is celebrated today.  For example, if some students observe this holiday themselves, they can invite family members and friends to teach their classmates more about contemporary celebrations.  Furthermore, engaging with this book can strengthen children's literacy skills (Duke, Bennett-Armistead, & Roberts, 2003).  Encountering new words can build vocabulary (Dreher, 2003), while teachers can encourage students to develop their writing skills by creating their own poetry about a historical event (Ray, 2004).

Juneteenth celebration in Austin, 1900

With all of the great nonfiction and historical fiction children's literature out there, teachers don't have to worry about relying on textbooks.  By welcoming books like All Different Now into the classroom, we can give our students all kinds of wonderful opportunities to connect with the past.

Helpful Resources

• Other picture books about Juneteenth:
• Juneteenth for Mazie (Floyd Cooper)
• Juneteenth Jamboree (Carole Boston Weatherford)
• Juneteenth (Vaunda Michaeux Nelson)

• An article by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., containing several quotations (primary sources) from former slaves about Juneteenth and emancipation

•  "The Roots of Juneteenth" (video)

• Some examples of how Galveston, Texas (where emancipation was announced) celebrates Juneteenth today  

References

Barton, K. C., & Levstik, L. S. (2004). Teaching history for the common good. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Dreher, M. J. (2003). Motivating struggling readers by tapping the potential of information books. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19, 25-38.

Duke, N., Bennett-Armistead, V. S., & Roberts, E. M. (2003). Filling the great void: Why we should bring nonfiction into the early-grade classroom. American Educator, 27(1), 30.

Johnson, A. (2014). All different now: Juneteenth, the first day of freedom. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. 

Ray, K. W. (2004). Why Cauley writes well: A close look at what a difference good teaching can make. Language Arts, 82, 100-109.

VanSledright, B. (2011). The challenge of rethinking history education: On practices, theories, and policy. New York, NY: Routledge.

Review: Manlio Argueta's Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes

Title: Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes / Los perros mágicos de los volcanes
Author: Manlio Argueta (El Salvador)
Illustrator: Elly Simmons (US)
Publisher: Children's Book Press
Ages: 4+

Imagine a picture book that can be a powerful, entertaining, and appealing educational tool for preschoolers and high schoolers alike.  Drawing from the folklore of his native El Salvador, renowned author and political activist Manlio Argueta delivers with Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes / Los perros mágicos de los volcanes.  In this book, Argueta introduces readers to cadejos, mythical Central American creatures with the looks of a wolf and the grace of a deer.  According to legend, cadejos live around volcanoes (who are their great-great-grandparents), eat the seeds of morning glory flowers, and protect the local people from harm.

Everyone loves the cadejos and their kindness, except for Don Tonio, a rich landowner, and his thirteen brothers, who employ – or overwork, rather – the townspeople.  These men believe that the cadejos’ care makes the people weak and lazy, so they call upon some “lead soldiers” to get rid of the kindly creatures.  Fortunately, the cadejos have the power of invisibility, which helps them evade the soldiers at first.  However, when the men begin killing the morning glories, the creatures’ only food source, the cadejos’ volcanic ancestors must come to the rescue.

This book has something to teach students of all ages.  Younger children will enjoy the magical story, experiencing the folklore of El Salvador, and learning how another culture values and respects the natural world.  They’ll also love Elly Simmons’ detailed, earth-toned pastel illustrations, which clearly convey the candejos’ friendly mischief and bring the massive volcanoes to life.

Meanwhile, Argueta’s tale is also perfect for older students interested in Latin American history and politics.  Written during the final years of the Salvadoran Civil War – during which oligarchs and the military oppressed and terrorized rural civilians – Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes / Los perros mágicos de los volcanes mirrors this turmoil with its portrayal of conflict between the elitist Don Tonio, his lead soldiers, and the townspeople who must rely on their (super)natural surroundings for help.

Moreover, the book’s side-by-side bilingual format makes it a helpful text for Spanish and English learners of any age.  Argueta’s inclusion of words unique to Central America, such as cadejo, cipote (child), and the local names for two volcanoes (Tecapa and Chaparrastique) gives the language a distinctly Salvadoran flavor. 

Ash cloud over Chaparrastique

I’m so grateful that I stumbled across this multifaceted tale in my local public library, and I recommend that you run out and borrow or buy a copy – you won’t regret it.  Also, for more information on the author and teaching this book, check out the following links:  

• Interview with Manlio Argueta

• Teaching guide

KidLit in Puerto Rico: Part Two

Picking up where I left off last time.

So I went to Puerto Rico and found quite a few interesting children's books.  In my last post, I discussed anti-bias/anti-racism textbooks and collections of poetry, so now I'm going to bring it on home by exploring some of the nonfiction(ish) literature I came across.

The first book is Everywhere Coquís / En Dondequiera Coquíes (Hooper, 2007), which can be found in many, many Puerto Rican gift shops and caught my eye because of its appealing construction -- you can read the book in Spanish and then turn it over and flip it upside down to read it in English.

I've categorized this book as nonfiction, but that's only partially true, since the overall plot of the book is fictional, while many of the details present factual cultural information about Puerto Rico.  In this story, a group of coquís -- tiny but vocal frogs that are widely beloved in PR -- are chased out of the rainforest by parrots and wander through the countryside and into the city, where they encounter several well-known sights, like a piraguas (snowcone) vendor, artists who craft vejigantes (traditional masks) and santos, and musicians playing traditional music.

Vejigante during Carnaval

Examples of popular santos, like

La Mano Poderosa (All Powerful Hand)

and Los Reyes Magos (Three Kings)

Honestly, this book disappointed me for a couple of reasons.  First, I thought it would be a purely nonfiction, scientific presentation of coquís: their history, anatomy, habitat, etc.  Second, I'm concerned about the "tourist" nature of the text.  While the aspects of Puerto Rican culture depicted in the book -- food, art, music -- are definitely important and worth learning about, they don't cover the many and complex ways of being Puerto Rican.  Therefore, this book can be a sweet, charming way to introduce children to the island and some of its cultural practices, but reading other books is necessary to prevent kids from possibly developing a narrow, stereotyped view of Puerto Rico.

Next I have to discuss the vast amount of information on the Taínos (the indigenous people living in Puerto Rico when the Spanish arrived) that I encountered during my trip -- nearly every museum and gift shop sold Taíno artifact replicas and books.  Since many of us living in the US aren't familiar with Taíno history, here's a very brief overview (source):

• The Taíno people lived in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and many other areas of the Caribbean.  Their ancestors probably first arrived in this areas around 400 B.C.
• They first encountered Europeans (led by Columbus) in 1492.
• By the 1530s, most Taíno people had died due to warfare, disease, and slavery brought by the Europeans.  Also, many indigenous women married Spanish men.
• Although (probably) no one in the Caribbean has 100% indigenous ancestry, there are many people who identify as Taíno and keep Taíno cultural practices alive.

...Which brings me to two children's books dealing with indigenous topics.  First up is Tai: El Pequeño Tayno / Tai: The Little Taíno (Otero, 1972/2007), the first in a series of historical fiction texts about a little boy going about his business in pre-conquest Puerto Rico.

In this story, Tai eats breakfast, takes a bath, helps his family with chores, watches artisans creating ceramic wares, says hello to the local leader, and helps fisherman unload their fresh catch from their canoes.  Clearly, this book's creators want to teach children about various aspects of Taíno life in the past, including daily work, recreation, clothing, vocabulary, etc.  Everything about this book seems aboveboard -- the language is respectful, and the illustrations look accurate.  However, I'm definitely no expert in Taíno culture, so I'd be interested to hear what a more knowledgeable reader might have to say about this text.

Overall, reading this book left me with several questions about how the Taínos are perceived in Puerto Rico today.  How many people identify as Taíno?  How are these people viewed and treated by the government and other Puerto Rican residents?  What and how do children learn about Taínos and the Spanish invasion in school?  Lots of interesting topics to investigate.

Finally, I present to you De Cómo Nació El Amor / How Love Was Born (Álvarez Astacio, 2010), a book that I want to love but just can't.

It's another book that tries to pay homage to indigenous peoples, but, sadly, it just doesn't work.  Here's an excerpt from the introduction:

"This book is a myth about the origin of love; that very love for life that we feel in the depths of our heart.  The mythical space, created by the illustrations in this book, is based on the picturesque depictions from various indigenous groups around the world; those that once existed and those that are still in existence today."

Two sets of questions: First, where did this myth come from?  Is it a story that comes from a specific group of people, or is it yet another made-up story that seems nice because it "sounds Indian"?  If this tale does come from a specific group of people, why are those people not named in this book?

Second, why take a bunch of different indigenous art styles and mash them together?  Is the illustrator homogenizing indigenous cultures, implying that they're all more or less the same?  Because of these problematic elements, it would be best to use this book to teach kids critical reading skills but not to teach them about indigenous peoples.

To wrap up, I'd like to recommend exploring local children's literature offerings when you go on trips, either here in the US or abroad.  Doing so can really enrich your experience by teaching you more about your surroundings or by giving you something to ponder as you travel.  I hope you're having a great week, and I'll see you next time!

Review: Margarita Engle's Silver People

In her newest free-verse novel, Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal, Newbery and Pura Belpré Award winner Margarita Engle educates us about the digging of the “monstrous ditch” (p. 111) between 1906 and 1914.

Wikimedia Commons

Narration shifts amongst various fictional characters, although we mostly hear from Mateo, a Cuban teenager and aspiring artist working on the canal.  In addition, we meet Anita, a Panamanian yerbera (herb seller) who befriends Mateo, and Henry, a Jamaican worker who wants to use his meager earnings to help support his family back home.

Engle also inserts voices of real historical figures like John Stevens, the American Chief Engineer of the project…

Wikimedia Commons

…and President Theodore Roosevelt, who visited the Canal in 1906.

And then he dug the whole thing by himself.

Most interesting to me are the poems from the perspective of the original inhabitants of Panama – animals and plants.  The trees speak to us, as do howler monkeys, frogs, butterflies, eagles, and sloths.

Before I discuss everything I love about this book (which is a lot), I have a confession to make: poetry isn’t really my thing.  I appreciate it as an art form and love that people feel so passionately about expressing themselves with it.  Creative writing was my jam throughout middle and high school, so I’ve written a lot of poetry myself (and enjoyed doing so), but when it comes down to it, I’m a prose kind of person nowadays.

HOWEVER!  Silver People really works for me.  First of all, I love history, and Engle – as usual – has thoroughly researched her topic.  Through beautiful language and fascinating characters, she gives life to a series of historical events that I always found boring in school.  In far fewer words than a textbook, she provides us with more information about the Panama Canal than I ever learned in my history classes.  For example, I was surprised to find out that workers were segregated by nationality and ethnicity – Americans and Northern Europeans; Southern Europeans; and Caribbean Islanders – and that the first group was paid in gold, while the latter two were paid in silver.  (You'll have to read it to find out more!)

"Powder Men" from the West Indies

Laborers from Spain

As you might guess, my very favorite part of the book was the multiple perspectives that Engle presents.  We hear from people from different countries, ethnicities, and class levels.  Because of these diverse points of view and various depictions of racial, social, and economic injustice, Silver People would be a fantastic book to use when teaching older kids about critical literacy.

And not only does Engle share different people’s points of view, but she also gives plants and animals their own voices.  I’ve heard so much in recent years about the need to integrate school subjects and increase the amounts of reading and writing in non-language-arts classes – science and social studies teachers could easily work this book into their lessons about ecology and/or the Panama Canal.

Silver People will be available on March 25^th, so go grab a copy!  If you're a teacher or parent, share it with your kids, or simply enjoy it yourself.  I know I did.

Further Information:

• Interview with Margarita Engle on Caroline Starr Rose's blog

• Blog about Silver People heritage in Panama

• Documentary about the Panama Canal on PBS' American Experience website