[CALIBK12] Reliability of reviews

[Debbie Reese]

Good morning,

As a classroom teacher, I had to buy a lot of 
books out of my own pocketbook. Before I bought 
them, I made sure that I read the books so I 
would not have spent money on a book that had 
factual errors, stereotypes, bias, etc. about American Indians.

But, I realize librarians have to buy from 
reviews, using a rule-of-thumb about the number 
of positive reviews a given book gets across the 
major review journals. A lot of problematic books 
get positive reviews. I pulled together a sample 
of the reviews for Tanya Landman's APACHE: GIRL 
WARRIOR and posted them to my site earlier this 
week. I also linked to my posts about the book, and Oyate's review, too.
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/07/tanya-landmans-goldsmiths-daughter.html

It is disappointing.

Debbie


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

Debbie A. Reese (Nambé O'-ween-ge')
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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