Controversial Children's Books

Nappy Hair

The book Nappy Hair is written by Carolivia Herron and illustrated by Joe Cepeda.  The book is written probably for 4^th-5^th graders.  I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

            Following its title, Nappy Hair is about an African-American young girl who has the nappiest hair on Earth.  Her grandfather is telling her family about how this hair came to be, stating, “Her hair was an act of God, an act of God that came straight through Africa.”  The book also thoroughly discusses slavery in America and the auctioning of Africans to slave owners.  Throughout the book, nappy hair is given a strength and emphasis of power, referring to it as something beautiful, not to be tamed. 

            Although this book is controversial for many reasons, the literary merit of the writing is not hard to discover.  The style of the story is somewhat conversational, with the grandfather saying a sentence and the family he is telling it to replying on the next line.  The dialogue goes back and forth, so it allows the reader to feel like they are eavesdropping on a conversation instead of reading a story. 

            This book is controversial because it may make some Caucasian students feel uncomfortable or inferior (what a new experience!) to their African-American counterparts.  Herron refers to Ebonic-like speech as “king’s English”, putting the culture of this community at the top of society.  Also, the book is very empowering to African-American children and very few students know how to react to this in an elementary classroom.  This is not to say that this book cannot be used in a classroom, because it could provide powerful instruction on this writing style as well as documented struggle and lines of division between African-Americans and the rest of the country. 

Students could get a lot out of reading this book, but a teacher incorporating this book into a lesson needs to fully prepare a discussion and consider the possible paths this discussion could wander down.  The teacher needs to be highly knowledgeable about how to defuse heated or confrontational situations in a way that resolves the problem and is not biased.  This can be very difficult in an elementary classroom, especially a diverse one. 

            This book is about the more unique feature of an African-American’s appearance, especially in the eyes of children.  The author makes a statement like ‘We are here, we are this way, get used to it.”  This powerful message makes this book controversial, but the problem or facts will not disappear if this book or topic is ignored.  As Herron bluntly describes it, “Ain’t nothing going to straighten up the naps on this chile’s head.”

Rose Blanche

            Rose Blanche is written by Roberto Innocenti and is written for older elementary students, like 6^th-8^th graders.  I would rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. 

            Very few children’s books depict the Holocaust.  This book is not afraid to explore the history of such a horrific event and describes the life of a young girl, named Rose Blanche, who finds herself in a town that is taken over by Nazis.  Some of her neighbors have been taken away in trucks by soldiers and this leaves the young girl curious as to where they could have gone.  She follows the trucks one day and finds groups of people on the other side of an electric barbed wire fence.  Rose begins to save food from her meals to bring to these people as much as possible.  One day, everyone in her town begins to flee and Rose runs to the fence.  There, everything is destroyed and through the smoke, she sees soldiers with guns.  There was a gunshot and the story ends with Rose’s mother “waiting a long time for her little girl.” 

            Among controversial children’s literature, this type of book is one in which a teacher needs to use total discretion on.  If the teacher does not believe the students are ready to learn of such a dark time in history, this book should not be used.  However, if students are thought to be mature enough for the subject, this book could be a great way to experience the Holocaust on a child’s level.  The students probably have the same curiosity and questions that Rose Blanche did, so they can relate to her thought process. 

            A lot of literary strengths can be found in Innocenti’s writing as well.  In the beginning of the story, he writes, “I like the color of the river.  It looks like the sky.”  This can be used to introduce foreshadowing, since later in the story, Rose Blanche is hoping to be lifted away and have the situation change, much like linking the ground to the sky.  Also, as Rose Blanche stops eating to give her food to the prisoners, she grows thinner while the prisoners also grow thinner.  This can be used to remind the reader that both Rose and the prisoners are of one community and share similar characteristics and life stories. 

            Most adults are overwhelmed at the idea of explaining the Holocaust to children because adults want children to believe that the world could not be possible of hosting such an evil.  However, ignoring history is not a positive way to approach the subject either.  Lots of sensitivity and support are needed to convince the students that the world has learned from its gruesome mistakes, so teachers should host a lot of classroom conversations when discussing this topic.  This book is among one of the more controversial I have read since this is a topic that students are not exposed to everyday, like sexual orientation, religion, or sex.  The Holocaust is not something that is directly in their lives, it is just something they learn about in school, so the idea of mass murder and extermination is so foreign, it needs to be handled with care. 

Here is another blog, further discussing Roberto Innocenti.