Cynthia Leitich Smith
Q&A with Cynthia Leitich Smith About Native Children's Books
Q: Why is accuracy so important in selecting a children's book with Native themes? Isn't a story just a story?
A: The magic of fiction is making it believable. To engage a young reader, it's important to base even make-believe stories on solid fact. This enables the reader to suspend disbelief enough to care about the characters and the challenges they face. A well-researched book is a well-written one.
Q: What role does cultural specificity play in accuracy? Isn't one Native American just like another?
A: "Native American." "American Indian." "First Nations." These are umbrella terms for unique individuals, cultures, and indigenous Nations of the Americas.
When a character is simply referred to as an "Indian" and crafted with a mish-mash of popular Native-esque images, that character is not grounded in reality. It doesn't make any sense to show, for example, Native people in Alaska hunting buffalo in the traditional dress of the Seminole people of Florida.
Such images confuse young readers, especially those from the Native Nation or Nations supposedly being depicted in the story.
Q: What should be considered in selecting historical books with Native themes?
A: Many books, especially those published several years ago, were extremely biased against Native people in their portrayal of history on this continent. It's often said that truth is determined by one's point of view. If your child's reading has included a number of historical books written from a non-Indian perspective, be sure to supplement their collection with titles that help them understand how Native Americans viewed these same periods and events.
Q: Why is it important for children to read books about Native people today?
A: The mainstream media has often offered a historical look at Native Americans, so often that many children actually think we went the way of the dinosaur. When asked about us, many non-Indian children use the past tense. Others may have a frozen-in-time image of our lifestyles.
It's important for children-both Native and non-Indian, to understand that Native people have a past, a present, and a future. Many of the best stories are inspired by what's happening in the world today.
Q: Why is it important to expose children to writing by Native authors?
A: All peoples have their own worldviews, their own sense of music and poetry in language, their own priorities and storytelling traditions. One of the wonderful things about literature is that it has the power to expose young readers to a variety of perspectives, cultural and otherwise. In today's world, cross-cultural understanding is more important than ever. As insiders, Native authors bring their life experiences, first-hand perspectives, and literary traditions to stories for young readers.
Q: What can we do to improve the status of Native American children's literature?
A: We can vote for the publication of more quality children's and young adult (teen) books with Native characters and themes by purchasing them or checking them out of our libraries.
Whether Native or non-Indian, we can educate ourselves and our children about the diversity of Native people: those from different Nations; urban, rural, suburban, and reservation residents; biracial and intertribal families; etc.
We can advocate for the accurate and integrated representation of Native peoples, contemporary Native issues, and Native history in school curriculums (through books, Native speakers, films, and more).
We can encourage and support Native storytellers, authors, and illustrators.
We can honor our commitments to the education of all children, including Native children.
Q: Is there anything you'd like to add?
A: Many books still published today (along with other mainstream media) offer false, stereotyped, and pseudo-mystical portrayals of Native Americans. These influences should be balanced by accurate and respectful titles so that all children learn the facts about Native people and so Native children understand that books are for them, too, but mostly because a well-crafted story is one worth reading!
For more about information visit Cynthia Leitich Smith at her web site.
Contributor: Rebecca Grose
Reviews
In My Grandmother's House : Award-Winning Authors Tell Stories About Their Grandmothers
Edited and illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
Beverley Cleary, Diane Stanley, Gail Carson Levine, Jean Craighead George, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Minfong Ho, Pat Cummings and other award-winning children's and young adult authors share reflections about their grandmothers. Some are tributes to their difficult lives, many talents, and/or unconditional love. Others are revelations to the writer, like Smith's realization that her grandmother was a sexy lady! Some of the authors have chosen to share painful memories, like Naidoo's tale of her gambling, mentally ill grandmother, and Abelove's recounting of her maternal grandmother's detachment and fetish about cleanliness. Christensen's dry-point illustrations were inspired by photographs from each contributor and lend a face to each piece. Grandmothers are universal, yet often taken for granted, especially by the young. These stories provide the authors and readers the opportunity to examine their roots and the lives of their forebearers who lived in very different times. Such reflective pieces work more for adults than children. Several of the stories are very touching, but the intended audience most likely will not be drawn in to these quietly moving ruminations. 2003, HarperCollins, $18.99. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Peg Glisson (Children's Literature)
The idea for this book grew from a writers' conference Ms. Christensen attended. Suddenly a discussion became a storytelling competition about grandmothers where everyone eagerly shared a story or two. She was so enchanted by the stories and the intense interest they evoked that she began to think of compiling such stories in a book. Of course there are some sweet, loving memories here, but the book offers so much more. Joan Abelove in the author's note following her chapter says she started to write about Grandma Sophie who was fun and warm and full of life. But she chose instead to write about her Grandma Leah who was not warm, not fun, and had led an uneventful, boring life but Ms. Abelove's story about her is in no way boring. One of the most moving chapters is "Rhizomes" by Mingfong Ho, who grew up in Bangkok. She remembers her grandmother, An Po, speaking to spirits of dead loved ones. Within her story of different times and cultures, closeness and separation, love and spirituality she speaks to An Po as An Po addressed her ancestors. Chapters written by award-winning children's authors including Beverly Cleary, Jean Craighead George, Gail Carson Levine and nine others are followed by an author's note about its story. The book concludes with biographies of the twelve authors who have generously shared worthy memories. The publisher says the book is for ages 8 to 12. I was dubious about how much a child would enjoy it. So I asked a 10-year-old friend to read any one chapter then tell me if he felt he would like to read more. He said he liked the chapter, but he didn't ask to keep the book any longer. This book will appeal to many adults. It could be a thoughtful gift for a mother, a grandmother, or actually, anyone who ever had a grandmother. 2003, Harper Collins Publishers, $18.99. Ages 8 to Adult. Reviewer: Janet Crane Barley (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 0-06-029109-5
ISBN: 0-06-029110-9
Indian Shoes
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Illustrated by Jim Madsen
In this collection of six short interrelated stories, Ray Halfmoon and his Grandfather are a part of many communities. At the local antique store, Ray trades his genuine "Indian shoes," running shoes with neon laces, to a teacher with a sense of humor in exchange for her recent purchase of some old moccasins. In their Chicago neighborhood, they save pets, whose owners are away for the Christmas holidays, when a snowstorm causes power and heat outages. Then Ray is the ring bearer at a friend's wedding but the rented tuxedo doesn't come with pants and so his grandfather lends his own. There are Cherokee-Seminole relatives back in Oklahoma whom they visit in summer. The heartwarming and humorous stories show a modern Native American boy, whose parents have died in a tornado, straddling two cultures successfully. The stories are marred by overwriting: "...sinking sun swelled pumpkin orange and sweet violet," and "Glittering snowflakes smacked wet against Ray's cheeks and clouded the mourning midday sky" are two examples. Even the comparisons are less than apt: Grandpa "snoring like a rusty hymn," a snow-covered VW Bug looking like a "triceratops embedded in a rock," or sleep knitting someone 's eyelids. Children may wonder, too, if Ray goes to school and what Grandfather does to support the two in their seemingly middle-class dwelling. However, the gentle stories depict a boy and his grandfather making it successfully in the city. The chapters are short, easy to read, and Jim Madsen's appealing soft pencil illustrations are inviting. Easy chapter books about contemporary Native Americans are hard enough to find that readers may forgive the storyteller's overblown language as poetic license and enjoy the theme that it is the small things in life and the friendly connections with those you love that matter most. 2002, HarperCollins, $15.95. Ages 7 to 11. Reviewer: Susan Hepler (Children's Literature)
This book tells the story of Ray and his Grandpa Halfmoon. Ray lives with his grandpa because his parents were killed in a tornado. It is an entertaining story about their lives. This book deals with how Ray and his grandpa relate to each other. They have a great respect and love for each other. The story also tells of their connection to the past and what it means to each of them. This book would be good for children to read to understand a close relationship and how important "family" really is! Fiction. 2002, HarperCollins, 66p, $15.89. Grades 3-5. Reviewer: Virginia Gleaton (Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 15, No. 1))
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2003 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, Supplement, 2003 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Choices, 2003 ; Cooperative Children's Book Center; United States
ISBN: 0-06-029531-7
ISBN: 0-06-029532-5
Jingle Dancer
Cynthia L. Smith
Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu
Brum! Brum! Brum! Hear the sound of the powwow drum as the women dance with tin jingles on their dresses making a rhythmic tinkling sound. Jenna dreams of dancing at the powwow but with no jingles to sew on her costume, there would be no sound. With bouncy enthusiasm, she convinces relatives to loan her theirs from their now silent dresses to sew on her costume. Jingle Dancer describes this dance of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that is still performed today. 2000, Morrow, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
"As Sun fetched morning, Jenna danced east...." Even on a cursory first reading Smith's words sing, in this warm little tale of a child seeking to dance herself a place. In conjunction with the glowing illustrations, Jingle Dancer reads like a visual poem. Jenna, who longs to dance like Grandma Wolfe, goes from house to house, trying to get from relatives and friends the essential components of her dress. She finds them, and she finds much more. In her dance, she finds the grace and strength of each of the lovely women whose jingles lend music to her regalia. The blending of contemporary and traditional, the feel of a child secure in that embrace, the changing face of art and craft and tradition itself--these are refreshingly and unobtrusively depicted here. It's all in lyrical language, down to the story of Bat, folded in quietly in a telling by Great-aunt Sis. If you don't know what a jingle is, you can find that and some additional background information in an author's note. 2000, Morrow, $15.95. Ages 4 to 10. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami (Children's Literature)
Jenna dreams of having a dress with jingles for the upcoming powwow, but as her grandmother notes, there aren't any extras and there isn't enough time to make them. Jenna is undeterred; she only needs four rows of jingles to make the proper sound. First she visits Great-aunt Sis and when she spies a dress that has not seen recent use, she asks to borrow a row of jingles. Jenna succeeds and with her Great-aunts warm wishes she promises to dance for her. Great-aunt Sis also tells Jenna a story about the bat overcoming obstacles and winning the great ball game, and it inspires Jenna. She visits family and friends and finally gets enough jingles to complete her regalia for the dance. Van Wright and Hu, in the finals pictures, show Jenna in all her finery dancing for her friends and family. An author's note provides background about Jenna's tribe and the story that Jenna's Great-aunt Sis relates. 2000, Morrow/HarperCollins, $15.95. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 0-688-16241-X
ISBN: 0-688-16242-8
Best Books:
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001 ; H.W. Wilson; United States
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2001 ; National Council for the Social Studies NCSS; United States
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Oklahoma Book Award Finalist 2001 Children/Young Adult United States
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
2X2 Reading List, 2001; Texas
Michigan Reader's Choice Award, 2002; Michigan
Period Pieces: Stories For Girls
Selected by Erzsi Deak and Kristin Embry Litchman
This anthology of stories by some big name writers, including Newbery award winner Linda Sue Park, features young girls discovering what menstruation is all about, getting their first period in situations horrifying or funny or celebratory, and discovering the truths behind the myths and stories. April Halprin Wayland's short poem says it all for some girls. Some will be intrigued by Uma Krishnaswami's three-generational talisman of friendship and separation. Others will laugh at the total embarrassment of Linda Sue Park's girl in the white pants or feel a touch of relief at Cynthia Leitich Smith's Gentleman Cowboy whose many sisters taught him how to treat a girl. A recurring theme in the stories is that many adults don't know how to address the questions of puberty. For parents who feel awkward talking about that moment when a girl becomes a woman, these stories might provide a starting point. The stories vary in quality, but each has a kernel of truth to which some girl, somewhere, will respond. 2003, HarperCollins Children's Books, $15.99. Ages 8 up. Elisabeth Greenberg (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 0-06-623796-3
ISBN: 0-06-623797-1
Rain is Not My Indian Name
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Fourteen-year-old Rain decides to get herself a teen life, little knowing that disaster awaits her best friend Galen, about whom she is only just beginning to experience the first tingles of romantic promise. Ridden with guilt and misery, Rain closes her world in upon itself. But then her Aunt Georgia decides to run an Indian Camp, and Rain's reluctant actions on her behalf threaten to drastically backfire. What follows is a summer of turmoil and realization, in which Rain is forced to come to terms with the tragic events she has lived through, the world in which she lives and her sense of self. Smith (author of Jingle Dancer) portrays a protagonist with a genuine voice and an appealing sense of humor. Aunt Georgia's red hair, Grampa's notes from Las Vegas, pasta bridges and all, this rendering of a contemporary family of Native American heritage is wonderfully far from stereotypical "dreamcatchers, the kind with fakelore gift tags." 2001, HarperCollins, $15.95 and $15.89. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Uma Krishnaswami (Children's Literature)
This is a very complex book. The story line covers just a few days in the life of Cassidy Rain Berghoff, a thirteen-year-old Indian* girl growing up in a (fictional) central Kansas town. Earlier events from Rain's life are told in excerpts from the journal she has kept since she was old enough to write. Rain's mother had been killed in a freak accident several years before this story begins, and her best friend had also been killed in a traffic accident a few months earlier. Rain has blocked out the pain (and everything else) for several months, unable to face this new loss. Now, however, her Aunt Georgia has decided to hold an Indian Camp for local Indian children, a very small minority in this almost all-white community. There is much controversy over the Indian Camp, and Rain--already an accomplished photographer--is asked to cover it for the local newspaper. In order to help her beloved aunt, Rain must pull herself out of her depression and face the world--and her grief. The story of Rain's recovery is told with humor and pathos, and Rain herself is a most admirable young lady. Besides being a "good read," the book has the added value of offering insight into the experience of growing up Indian in a small all-white community. The author is herself an Indian who grew up in just such a place. *"Indian" is the term Rain applies to herself, so it is used here instead of "Native American." Fiction. 2001, HarperCollins, 135p, $15.89. Grades 5-9. Reviewer: Ginny Hoskins (Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 14, No. 2))
Best Books:
Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog, Supplement to the Eighth Edition, 2002; H.W. Wilson; United States
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Oklahoma Book Award Finalist 2002 Children/Young Adult United States
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers & Storytellers Award 2001 United States
ISBN: 0-688-17397-7
ISBN: 0-06-029504-X
Added 09/08/03
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If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.