By: Helen Bannerman
This is a book where the controversy is obvious, and also where I would side against it as an appropriate book to be read in schools. This is the type of controversy that is very clean cut for me. Before even reading the text, I could tell that I would feel this way just judging from the picture on the cover. It is an extremely stereotyped image of an African American, and the images inside follow suit. I found the way that their lips are drawn and stand out in red to be very offensive. Everything else about the illustrations: the way they were dressed, facial expressions, etc. I found equally so. Also, it takes place in the jungle, which makes the characters seem very primitive. Also, the end made them seem almost barbaric. I would not have this book in my classroom. On the back of the book, there is a quote that says about the book: “I cannot imagine a childhood without it.” I recognize that this was written a long time ago and maybe it did have its place at one point, but I think that time has passed. In a progressive society, this book took one step backwards for me: Not something I would want young children to read. The only purpose that I could see for this book would be to read it with older kids as a part of a social studies unit and to talk critically about how African Americans are portrayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment