Native Americans in Children's Literature / Edition 1

by Jon C. Stott

Overview

Build high-interest theme lesson plans that accurately portray Native peoples and cultures with this authoritative guide to the best children's fiction. Professor Jon Stott describes books on Native Americans and their cultures for readers through junior high school age. This highly readable reference book also provides a balanced discussion of the disservice done to Native Americans by misleading, inaccurate, and insensitive books. Stott's perceptive text explains how some well-loved books make mistakes and reinforce stereotypes. He also includes valuable ideas on incorporating stories about Native American traditions and experiences into your lesson plans.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897747820
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/26/1995
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	5 - 13 Years

About the Author

JON C. STOTT, Ph.D., University of Toronto, is professor of children's literature in the English department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. A member of the founding board of directors and the first president of the International Children's Literature Association, he has delivered papers, seminars, and workshops to conferences and professional development institutes in over 100 Canadian and American cities and has published articles on the study and teaching of children's literature in British, Canadian, and American jourbanals. He is author of Children's Literature from A to Z: A Guide for Parents and Teachers, Mary Norton, and (with Raymond E. Jones) Canadian Books for Children: A Guide to Authors and Illustrators. With Anila Moss, he is editor of The Family of Stories: An Anthology of Children's Literature.

Table of Contents

Foreword. For the Seventh Generation by Joseph Bruchac xi
Introduction. Learning about Native Realities—A Personal Jourbaney xv
References xx
Chapter 1. The Way It Wasn't: Stereotypes and Misrepresentations 1
European Responses to the New World 1
Our Little Indian Cousin: A Good Indian Boy 5
Geronimo, Wolf of the Warpath: Freedom Fighter as Bad Indian 8
In Search of Sedna: A Children's Version of a Major Eskimo Myth 12
The Indian in the Cupboard: Making Plastic Indians Wooden 15
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: Did Chief Seattle Really Say That? 18
References 22
Chapter 2. Imaging Native Worlds 24
Picture Books and Traditional Stories 24
Traditional Plains Cultures and Stories in the Picture Books of Paul Goble 27
Native Faces of the Universal Hero in the Picture Books of Gerald McDermott 38
Living by Oceans and Deserts: Realistic Portrayals of Modern Native Life 49
Picture Book Versions of Traditional Tales 53
Picture Book Fiction and Petry about Native Peoples 70
References 79
Chapter 3. Native Tricksters and Legendary Heres in Children's Stories 82
Transmitting and Adapting Native Stories: Petics and Problems 82
Tracking the Trickster: Coyote and His Cousins 86
The History of a Culture Hero's Biography: Nanabozho/Hiawatha 105
Collections of Traditional Myths and Legends 122
References 141
Chapter 4. Cultures in Conflict: Native Experiences in Children's Novels 146
Native Themes and Narrative Techniques in Novels About and By Native Peoples 146
Invasion and the Search for Home in the Novels of Scott O'Dell 149
Self-Discovery and Cultural Recovery in the Novels of Jean Craighead George 160
Discovery and Recovery in Children's Novels by Native Writers 171
Novels Portraying Native Experiences 176
References 194
Epilogue. Writing Between Two Worlds: The Inuit Stories of Michael Kusugak 196
References 201
Appendix.Incorporating Native Stories in the Language Arts Program 203
Philosophy and Objectives 203
Arctic Food on Ice 205
Author Study: Elizabeth Cleaver's Collages 206
As the Crow Flies: Pourquoi Legends from Across the Continent 211
Brave Hunters: Inuit Legends Retold by James Houston 213
Tracking the Trickster 215
Where the Buffalo Roamed: Plains Indian Mythology 217
Developing a Novel Study Unit: Julie of the Wolves 220
Other Units Focusing on Native Traditions and Legends 223
Author, Illustrator, Title Index 225
Subject Index 233