[CALIBK12] What Laura Ingalls Wilder left out of LITTLE HOUSE

[Beth Olshewsky]

You may or may not be familiar with the graphic novel of the Saga of the Bloody Benders by Rick Geary: http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Victorian-Murder-Benders-Graphic/dp/1561634999/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215322595&sr=8-1 

Beth Olshewsky
bolshewsky at earthlink.net
District Teacher-Librarian
San Marino Unified School District
"Love does not dominate; it cultivates."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Debbie Reese 
To: lm_net at listserv.syr.edu;ISLMANET-L at LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU;tlc at txla.org;oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au;calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu
Sent: 7/4/2008 10:47:12 AM 
Subject: [CALIBK12] What Laura Ingalls Wilder left out of LITTLE HOUSE


On my site yesterday, I posted excerpts from an article that was a speech given by Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1937. In that speech, Wilder talks about what she left out of her books, things that she did not think were appropriate for children. She talks specifically about the Benders, a family who ran a tavern. Turns out the Benders were killers; their "garden" had a lot of bodies in it. Pa and other townsmen went out looking for the Benders. Later on, Pa would say they would never be found. I've excerpted the relevant portions of the speech on my site:

http://tiny.cc/j5twD

Equally remarkable is that the speech was printed in SATURDAY EVENING REVIEW in the 70s, and again in the 80s in a biographical volume cited by a lot of people who study (and revere) the book. Nobody has written anything (as far as I've been able to determine) about the Benders or Pa's vigilantism. Those of you using LITTLE HOUSE for critical literacy purposes may want to include this information in your unit. Excellent example of choices writer's make, with lot of food-for-thought with regard to why they make such choices.

Debbie




Visit my Internet resource: 
American Indians in Children's Literature 
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.info

Debbie A. Reese (Nanbé Ówîngeh)
Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Native American House, Room 2005
1204 West Nevada Street, MC-138
Urbana, Illinois 61801

Email: debreese at illinois.edu
TEL 217-265-9885
FAX 217-265-9880 
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