“So, how should we as teachers and school librarians proceed in our selection and use of books? First, we need to affirm our personal commitment to individual choice by examining how we view books. If we see them strictly as mirrors that reflect our particular mores, lifestyles, or standards, then our problem is a difficult one. Whose standards or beliefs are the books to model?... If instead, we view books as windows to the world, we have determined that literature is designed to celebrate diversity and that we accept the risks that may accompany such a stance.”
-Turnell and Jacobs, Children’s Literature Briefly
Smoky Night
By Eve Bunting
Illustrated by David Diaz
4 Stars
This book tells the story of a child witnessing a riot from his apartment window. He and his mother are forced to evacuate their apartment, along with their neighbors when their building catches fire, and he and his mother connect with a neighbor of another race.
I’m not really sure why this book is considered controversial. It does tell the story of a riot and shows people stealing from the neighborhood stores. It does delve slightly into race issues (the narrator says that he and his mom don’t go to Mrs. Kim’s store because his mom says its better to buy from their own people), but these topics are explained to the child by his mother, who gives both her son and the readers the most gentle version of these issues as possible. As Turnell and Jacobs mention in their book, Children’s Literature Briefly, “All books that deal with (controversial topics) are not automatically bad. Nor are they automatically good. The way in which these subjects are presented makes the difference. If uncomfortable subject matter offers insight, helps develop attitudes and skills for dealing successfully with life, and fosters resolution or hope, the book may be a worthwhile addition to a recommended list.” Using a mother’s voice to explain this situation mitigates the intensity of witnessing a riot. In the end, the child, his mother, and their neighbor, Mrs. Kim learn that after they got to know each other, they have things in common. In the end, a terrible event leads to neighbors growing closer and finding commonality. The hopeful ending in addition to gently discussing a topic that many students are probably already aware of would justify any objections that I could imagine to this book. As Turnell and Jacobs wrote, “Avoiding the harsh and often unsavory realities of life does not make them go away. In fact a child may be more susceptible to the effects of controversial material by being totally unprepared.” In my opinion, it is far better to deal with these topics through a well thought out picture book, than for a child to experience the far more gruesome realities in real life, from the news, or from older, less discreet children or adults.
As a side note, the illustrations of this book add quite a bit to the story. They were expressionistic, which distorted figures that somehow made me put a little more distance between myself and the characters in the book. The Picasso-like figures helped the story to seem more like a piece of fiction than a re-telling of actual events. This might help younger or more sensitive readers to put a little emotional distance between themselves and the intensity of reading about the riot. The artist also included some collaged items that went along with the story. For instance, when telling about the looting of the grocery store, there were pieces of cereal surrounding the picture.
Way Home
By Libby Hathorn
Illustrated by Gregory RogersFour stars
A young boy finds a cat in the city and decides to bring it home and care for it. The boy dodges many dangers in bringing the cat back to his home. At the end of the story we find out that the boy is homeless and doesn’t seem to have any adults caring for him.
If the mark of a good book is that your thinking was shifted around by reading the book, then this is a terrific book. As I began reading this book, I was a little unnerved by the fact that a young boy was navigating the dirty, dark city by himself. As the story went on, I was surprised that the author and illustrated didn’t skirt around some of the less savory elements of the city, such as the garbage, the bullies, and an apparent prostitute (although I doubt that young readers would make this connection). My surprise was complete when I found at the end of the book that the boy was not only homeless, but apparently completely on his own. The illustrations in this book were realistic and spared no detail. This was not a cleaned-up version of the inner city. The pictures show graffiti, abandoned buildings, and the worn-out tennis shoe of the main character, Shane. The boy himself, is a character that I was drawn to. He is a street-smart kid with the humanity to care about and want to care for a kitten. Shane put a very human face to the issue of homelessness.
This book left me asking questions like, how many kids in the United States are there like Shane? Is this a book that I would feel comfortable teaching with in my classroom? Would I want it on my bookshelf? Shouldn’t kids know that there are other children who are homeless? How old should they be before they know about this? I’m not sure when or if I would have this book in my classroom, but as an adult, I was moved by the story.
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