[CALIBK12] Weeding or adding notation: Blue Willow etc.

[ladewig]

I read Blue Willow several years ago and blanched at the main character's
thought/comment (can't recall which) about her Mexican friend's "dark" skin
in a derogatory manner. I serve at a campus with a real "mixed bag" of
nationalities, so I'm a bit concerned about that remark. On the other hand,
the story has so many good qualities/challenges (process of grieving for
mother, strong family unity despite extreme poverty, threat of homelessness,
competition and camaraderie among field workers of different races, caring
teacher, descriptions of local environment and various experiences of youth
- county fair, etc.) that it helps children "see" the time period and that
families can go through hard times and come out okay, perhaps even thrive. 

 

I appreciate what mlock at conejo.k12.ca.us and Kathy Shepler (their comments
follow below) posted about adding a notation to the book, and plan to do the
same. I read aloud the book "Dad, Jackie and Me" as part of the CYRM program
here for my 4th graders, and when it got to the part about Jackie being
booed and called names, my students didn't understand what was going on or
why. I had to explain to them about baseball teams being segregated and
having separate leagues up until that point, and that kind of fazed them.
They had no idea of what kinds of names Jackie was being called, or why. On
the other hand, they were quite impressed that their Library Lady knew that
the Dodgers were originally the N.Y. "Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers" (among many
other names) see http://www.acmewebpages.com/dodgers/thename.htm since they
(and their teacher!) only knew them as Los Angeles Dodgers! 

 

Joanne Ladewig  (A.K.A. "Library Lady")

Library Media Tech

Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD

Garden Grove, California

 <mailto:shatz at verizon.net> shatz at verizon.net

 

Comments are my own and may not represent the views of GGUSD

 

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From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu
[mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Kbshepler at aol.com
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 7:31 PM
To: mlock at conejo.k12.ca.us; calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] Weeding the 398.2's

 

In a message dated 2/29/2008 10:21:03 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
mlock at conejo.k12.ca.us writes:

Hi, all - I've really been enjoying this discussion.  Here's what I did in
my library with a few books that I took a second look at when I got here 10
years ago, using Doris Gates' Blue Willow as an example.  I put a sticker in
the front of the book:  "This book was written and published in 1940.  A few
of the words and terms used to describe certain characters are no longer
considered acceptable.  Their use in this book reflects their common
colloquial use in some parts of America during the 1930's and 1940's.
Please ask your parent, teacher, or librarian if you have any questions
about this book or about this period in American history."

Well, experts and professionals - Do you think this works?  Anyone else done
anything similar?  Better?  

I know this is an impossibly late post to this thread, but...

 

I have settled on a plan for these books in my small library. I have made up
removable stickers of Rodin's The Thinker with a caption at the bottom that
says "Think About It". Inside the book, I place a primary source pocket 3"x
5" size in which is a note with the Rodin image heading. The small note
allows me to add comments like the one above, or maybe a reference to
another text. I like this technique because it means I can change the note
to fit the nuance of the book in question. For example, in addition to the
cultural concerns in Little House in the Big Woods, I can point students to
also read Birchbark House when they are done.

 

Kathy Shepler, Librarian

Aurora School

Oakland, CA





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