Little House on the Prairie

I just finished reading the Kuhlman article Fifth Graders' Reactions to Little House on the Prairie (2000).

Some things struck me as I read. First of all, I understand the concern teachers and some students may have about the way Native Americans are protrayed in the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. However, as I always understood it the books, the first one in particular, were written primarily from the point of view of Laura, a little girl girl no older than seven years old. I wonder how much a child of that age would actually know about social justice and not being prejudiced. It is entirely possible that she saw the Indian's as scary simply because her parents thought that and so that is the way she remembers the story. As an older woman writing the series she could have rewritten her memories to include a more fairminded portrayal of the Osage Indians, but she did not choose to do that. I think this series (one I loved as a child and am still a fan of) can be loved by a whole new generation of kids as well with a little guidance as to the Native Americans' side of the story. I think it can also be brought up to the students or other children reading the book that they are often from the viewpoint of a little girl perhaps even younger than themselves.

Secondly, a personal pet peeve of mine is people that do not expect much out of others. For instance, in this article the author seems to imply that everyone that reads this book series is completely blind to the negative stereotypes being portrayed in the Indian characters because that reader has been inundated with these images so much they no longer recognize them. Kuhlman says on page 390 of the article that, "the very fact that [white readers] don't remember and don't think they were impacted is because they were part of the privileged group that do not see anything amiss by the fear and hatred of Indians and their belief that the eventual 'routing out' of 'those people' was normal." I think blanket statements like these are unfair and they do not give people enough credit. She is saying here that people who claim not to have been influenced in their views of Indians from a children's book series are actually so socialized to believe the worst about Indians that they do not even notice anything wrong with the portrayal. And, that I do not agree with. I think a lot more people, especially today, are conscious of social justice in all forms of media and entertainment, including literature.

Pura Belpre

The Pura Belpre award is named after Pura Belpre, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. "The award was established in 1996 and is presented to a Latino/Latina (people whose heritage eminates from any of the Spanish speaking cultures of the Western Hemisphere) writer and illlustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth" (American Library Association). The award is given out bi-annully and is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The books considered for this award must be published in either the U.S. or Puerto Rico and must be either/or both English and Spanish. The committee to select these books must be members of the ALA and are preferablly Spanish speakers.

Some 2006 Pura Belpre Award Winners:

For Narrative:"The Tequila Worm" by Viola Canales
For Illustration"Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart" by Raul Colon

One of our class books, "Becoming Naomi Leon" by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a Pura Belpre Honor book for it's narrative.

To research this award more go to:http://www.ala.org/