As time and society progress, literature and the values it reflects change. In children’s literature, some works that our culture may have labeled “classics” can seem unchanging and, indeed, untouchable, but it behooves the scholar, educator, and reader to look even at an identified classic with a skeptical eye. Upon consideration, a work that was previously considered appropriate for children may no longer be so, due to the text’s ingrained attitudes toward race, gender, sexuality, etc., while other works may require contextualization or discussion to benefit the child reader.
It can be tempting to either excuse such texts as “products of their time” or to alter them to better suit the values and preferences of the current cultural moment. Herein, however, we encourage a frank acknowledgement that the history of children’s literature is just as imperfect as any other history and a clear-eyed view of the texts as they are.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verse is often cited as a classic of the Golden Age of Children’s Literature. Some of its poems, however, like the example “Foreign Children”, reflects the colonial mindset while others such as “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” are more adaptable for a modern audience. Other texts from similar eras, like “Little Black Sambo” and the Uncle Remus tales, contain a highly problematic racist view that has no place in modern culture or conversation. Each of these texts presents enslaved peoples as entertainment for white children, as opposed to treating them as fully humanized characters. Not limited to the characterizations in the narrative, these problematic perspectives may be present in the language, the settings and backgrounds, and the subtextual attitudes evident in theme and imagery overall. We include these examples as an acknowledgement of the white supremacy that shaped published children’s books in English throughout the history of the form.
Christina Rossetti’s poem “The Goblin Market”, on the other hand, is an example of a text requiring contextualization, given that our understandings of previously entrenched concepts like gender roles have evolved over time. In reading the poem, scholars and students in the modern era may bring forward concerns about sexual assault, part of the subtext of the poem that is likely a product of outdated attitudes toward consent and female autonomy. While Rossetti’s poem supports many different readings, discussion is warranted when considering the text as suitable for young readers.
In fact, many of these problematic texts were not recognized as problematic in academic contexts until recently. Mainstream works, readily available in libraries and bookstores, reflect the broader systemic issues of their moment and often contain racist, sexist, and classist messages because such messages are rampant across many eras not just of history but current culture. Our instinct as scholars and teachers might be to shun texts that include outdated perspectives but because larger society has begun to recognize its history of racism, classism, and sexism, some of these texts have been reissued for use to note the insensitivity and lack of awareness present in children’s literature, acknowledging changing attitudes in western, especially American, culture. By studying these texts, we can better understand how degrading and hurtful words and images can be, how stereotypes can become and have become enculturated into society and shade our perceptions, and how progress toward better understanding and appreciation of differences has been and may continue to be made.
In addition to contextualizing these historical classics and problematic stories appropriately, it is important to note that, while the works in this section were published more than 100 years ago, stereotypes of race and gender have not disappeared from children’s literature. Though writers and editors are more aware of these negative portrayals, some may still be found in current publications. It is the task of the scholar to recognize and acknowledge the continuing limitations of this subjective medium, which always reflects something of its moment, and to contribute to the generative discussion that continues to shape children’s literature for the better.
We further recommend that all students and scholars of children’s literature seek out partner texts and other books that are written by authors of various backgrounds, especially those whose work represents their own marginalized communities, and/or otherwise are of diverse origin in order to balance out the limitations of past works and the exclusions of the publishing process. We must acknowledge the past and recognize the role of bias in our field’s history, while moving forward into a richer and more inclusive tradition of children’s literature.
Further Reading
We Need Diverse Books. https://diversebooks.org/
Children’s Book Council Diversity Project. http://www.cbcdiversity.com/
Secondary References
Anderson, Jill. “Hooked on Classics.” Harvard Ed. Magazine, Fall 2019, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/19/08/hooked-classics.
Nel, Philip. Was the Cat in the Hat Black?: The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature and the Need for Diverse Books. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth and Debbie Reese. “(Re)envisioning and (Re)reading: Examining Problematic Texts.” The ALAN Review, Summer 2015, pp. 68-72, https://alan-ya.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Reenvisioning-and-Rereading-Examining-Problematic-Texts.pdf.
