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Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature
In 1912, a revolutionary chick cries, "Strike down the wall!" and liberates itself from the "egg state." In 1940, ostriches pull their heads out of the sand and unite to fight fascism. In 1972, Baby X grows up without a gender and is happy about it.
Rather than teaching children to obey authority, to conform, or to seek redemption through prayer, twentieth-century leftists...more
Rather than teaching children to obey authority, to conform, or to seek redemption through prayer, twentieth-century leftists...more
Hardcover, 295 pages
Published
November 1st 2008
by New York University Press
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True story. My husband's best friend was dating a red diaper baby and one weekend we decided to stay in her parents' cabin. Not entirely grasping her upbringing to its fullest extent we were amazed and delighted when we stepped into the home to find it cover from tip to toe in amazing radical Socialist publications and decorations. As a children's librarian, however, my interest lay entirely in her old bedroom, still home to a fine selection of left-wing children's literature. It wasn't a large...more
So far, very academic. I'm mainly interested in the selections themselves, but there's so much annotation they're difficult to pick out.
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Update - it's gotten much better. Lots of good stories are in fact mixed in with the text. And of course the text is valuable to scholars, activists, and even interested parents & teachers.
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And done. I don't understand the organization exactly - the dullest & most didactic sections are at the start. However, many of the selections are abs...more
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Update - it's gotten much better. Lots of good stories are in fact mixed in with the text. And of course the text is valuable to scholars, activists, and even interested parents & teachers.
--------
And done. I don't understand the organization exactly - the dullest & most didactic sections are at the start. However, many of the selections are abs...more
"Can you read this?" My husband, a first grade teacher, hands me a test that says to circle one of the pictures and explain what features help the animal to live in its habitat. This first grader circled a dolphin and wrote, "They have ckowlowcashine. They live in the sea. They need to breath arr." "Well, it has to do with a dolphin," I replied handing it back. "Ah! I know... she means 'They have echolocation.'" He laughs at my gaping jaw and explains, "We teach them that bats and dolphins use e...more
I started to read this in the Fall, when Occupy Wall Street was in full-bloom, and then I let it fall by the wayside and kept renewing it from the library, and I finally finished it at jury duty yesterday. The book is a nuanced overview of left-wing ideology and how it manifested itself in writing for children in the 20th century. I am certainly aware of didactic moralizing in children's books (and those scoffers who wrongly feel children's writing is nothing but), but I was surprised to discove...more
Jul 23, 2011
Jon
added it
I admit I didn't read every word of this, it's the kind of book you can dip into at any point. Many intriguing excerpts from progressive/radical books for kids from the past. Syd Hoff's HISTOWN is great, while Carl Sandburg's ROOTABAGA PIGEONS is as dull as I remember it. (His earlier ROOTABAGA STORIES was better, Micklenburg and Nel may not have included anything from it because it lacked political content--after 35 years I don't really remember.) I recommend reading each of the texts first, th...more
This is an amusing anthology that collects many forgotten pieces of "radical" children's literature. The excellent introductions make the point that all literature, including children's literature, is ideological--this just offers a *different* sort of ideology. The "everyday" nature of some of the primers, for instance, reminds the reader of the working class (and socialist) history of this country that is often forgotten. It includes some interesting and helpful pieces such as "The Practical P...more
Teton Co Library Call No: 810.8 Tales
Marisa's Rating: 4 Stars
Great idea for a book! I was happily surprised to find this book come across the desk. The introductions to each "tale" were a bit dry, and definitely meant for adults not children (also evident in that the book was placed in the adult nonfiction collection). I liked the alternative takes on childhood books and especially liked the drawings/pictures/poem-based stories. A fun read -- good chapters on grassroots environmentalism and comm...more
Marisa's Rating: 4 Stars
Great idea for a book! I was happily surprised to find this book come across the desk. The introductions to each "tale" were a bit dry, and definitely meant for adults not children (also evident in that the book was placed in the adult nonfiction collection). I liked the alternative takes on childhood books and especially liked the drawings/pictures/poem-based stories. A fun read -- good chapters on grassroots environmentalism and comm...more
Great idea for a book! I was happily surprised to find this book come across the desk. The introductions to each "tale" were a bit dry, and definitely meant for adults not children (also evident in that the book was placed in the adult nonfiction collection). I liked the alternative takes on childhood books and especially liked the drawings/pictures/poem-based stories. A fun read -- good chapters on grassroots environmentalism and communist children stories. A fun read overall!
Teton Co Library C...more
Teton Co Library C...more
Some of the authors and illustrators are familiar, including Lucille Clifton, Syd Hoff, Langston Hughes, Walt Kelly, Norma Klein, Munro Leaf, Julius Lester, Eve Merriam, Charlotte Pomerantz, Carl Sandburg, and Dr. Seuss. Others are relatively unknown today, but their work deserves to be remembered. (Each of the pieces includes an introduction and a biographical sketch of the author.) From the anti-advertising message of Johnny Get Your Money’s Worth (and Jane Too)! (1938) to the entertaining les...more
Review from Brainpicker: http://bitly.com/yfSusF
"explores how the political beliefs of famous mid-century American authors shaped their cherished stories, teaching children to question rather than obey authority, to stand up and out rather than conform, to develop critical thinking skills rather than seek redemption through prayer."
"explores how the political beliefs of famous mid-century American authors shaped their cherished stories, teaching children to question rather than obey authority, to stand up and out rather than conform, to develop critical thinking skills rather than seek redemption through prayer."
If, god forbid, we had children, these would be the types of stories we would read to them. I enjoyed the stories about workers' rights and unions quite a bit. Not all, however, weather the test of time so well. The ABC poem that pledges allegiance to Stalin was a little startling. "X: A Fabulous Child's Story," meanwhile, promotes the early feminist notion that there is no biological construct for gender, a theory now mostly abandoned.
These "Tales for Little Rebels" must still strike a nerve w...more
These "Tales for Little Rebels" must still strike a nerve w...more
Many great (I suspect) books were taken out of context (stripped of their fonts and illustrations), then recontextualized historically and by genre of radicalism. This is academic mush. Use it as an overgrown bibliography.
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This is a very nice collection. Some great stuff in here by Syd Hoff (better known for his New Yorker cartoons) and Walt Kelly (known for Pogo). I actually recall very similar books from when I went to school so there was a kind of nostalgia for these unabashedly leftist leaning works.
I know that in the introduction, they explained that they didn't want to whitewash the history of radical children's literature, but as a parent reading this, I was hoping to find more tales that I could share with my daughter and less of a history lesson. Most of the tales are at the very least morally problematic to radicals, and many of the stories aren't *fun* to read.
a prairie girl's guide to life
came across it by chance... early 1900's radical children's stories?
a collection of portions childrens stories & their history... stories that wee contrary to the popular public opinion...
interesgting...
a collection of portions childrens stories & their history... stories that wee contrary to the popular public opinion...
interesgting...
i like how they organized the chapters. plus it's awesome that they included out of print texts. a great book for those interested in the topic ;)
This book is amazing. Anyone with interest in children's literature and political writing will be amazed. There are many facsimile reprints of pages from the featured books, some with illustrations. I am now on a quest to find many of these books used. Fabulous reading.
Dec 23, 2009
Juju
added it
Didn't finish this as I had to return this to the library. An interesting and varied collection, meaning I liked some and didn't others. I am looking forward to having time to picking this up again.
not what i hoped it would be, but still interesting.
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