Observations in a Local Bookstore

This assignment called on us to visit a local a local bookstore for 75 minutes and record our observations on how well the store integrates books representing diverse cultures and highlighting social issues like racism and sexism.

I have to begin this entry by saying that the children’s section of Politics and Prose is perhaps my favorite indoor venue in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Being required to spend 75 minutes there was a treat – something I used to do often when my kids were younger and do all too infrequently now. As I engaged in my observation, I was especially grateful for two things – first, the 75-minute target, which stretched into 90 minutes easily before I even looked at my watch, and second, the fact that my kids are older now – 13 and 11. Five years ago, I would have walked out of this observation considerably poorer. With older kids, I felt able to “bookmark” some of my finds for future consideration.

I found the literary environment at Politics and Prose very inclusive, which didn’t surprise me given its reputation as an intellectual hub and its location just south of liberal-leaning Chevy Chase, DC. Immediately before me as I walked into the children’s section were prominent seasonal displays of picture books on Ramadan and Islam, as well as the fall Jewish holidays – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. At the author events table We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, by Kadir Nelson, was featured almost front-and-center, and on the new picture book shelf was Rapunzel’s Revenge, by Shannon and Dean Hale, a very long comic-style counter-narrative to Rapunzel and many of the other traditional fairy tales.

The rotating new literature book rack, designed to feature new children’s literature in hardcover, included a book about a female president as well as a book with very obviously African characters on its cover. Closer examination of the first, Madam President, by Lane Smith, showed it to be a little girl’s humorous fantasy about the role she might one day assume. Much as we all probably find the idea of a woman executive topical, I wasn’t crazy about the execution in this case. The book was weak on both story and illustrations, and the humor was very much Washington-insider. I had mixed feelings about the African-themed book, The Fisherman and His Wife, by Rachel Isadora. Ms. Isadora is a white woman who lived in Africa for ten years and whose literary focus is in telling or retelling fairy tales in an African setting. Her illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and, to my eye at least, portray African characters in a beautiful way. The Fisherman was about a humble, accommodating husband and his greedy, overbearing wife. While the theme of strong women may represent a cultural reduction in some people’s eyes, the story was taken from the Brothers Grimm and, to my mind, was more a timeless parable than a stereotype. My chief complaint was that the language didn’t match the beauty of the pictures.

Walking around the store, I was struck by the fact that virtually every section highlighted books that either addressed social issues directly or focused on characters from diverse cultures. By way of example, the novel section displayed The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963, by African-American Newberry-winner Christopher Paul Curtis, and Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, by African-American author Mildred Taylor (featuring a photo of African-American children on the front cover and a back “blurb” discussing racism and the importance of land in holding a family together); the poetry section displayed a book entitled Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat, edited by Nikki Giovanni and including an audio CD that tracks the poems; the biography section displayed My Heart Glow: Alice Cogswell, Thomas Gallaudet, and the Birth of American Sign Language, by Emily Arnold McCully, At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England, by Walter Dean Myers, and She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer, by Sally Hobart Alexander; the geography section displayed a book entitled What the World Eats, by Faith D’Aluisio (a book about different cultures and their cuisine); the world history section displayed Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World, by Jane Yolen (author of Owl Moon) and Let’s Talk About Race, a well-intentioned but less-than-engagingly executed picture book by Jewish African-American author Julius Lester; the American history section displayed The Devil on Trial: Witches, Anarchists, Atheists, Communists, and Terrorists in America’s Courtrooms, by Phillip Margulies (examining the role of justice in some of our nation’s most notorious trials), As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom, by Richard Michelson, and Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown and Me, a memoir by white author John A. Stokes; the fine arts section featured Art from Her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter, by Kathy Whitehead (about a self-taught African-American artist who earned artistic acclaim within her own lifetime but was prevented by segregation laws from attending her own exhibits) and Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin, by Susanna Reich (about a white artist who dedicated his life to meeting and painting many of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere). The one that was hardest for me to resist was not displayed but tucked in next to the Clementine Hunter book. It was entitled Story Painter: the Life of Jacob Lawrence, by John Duggleby, and it was a gorgeous book that paired many of Lawrence’s seminal paintings with fairly lengthy accounts of his personal and artistic journey.

Unfortunately for me, I reached my personal favorite section – children’s picture books – last and was, therefore, able to give it only a cursory survey. A few books that caught my attention as I passed through were Thunder Rose, by Jerdine Nolen and Kadir Nelson (a story about an African-American cowgirl heroine that opened with the promising line, “Rose was the first child born free and easy to Jackson and Millicent MacGruder.”), Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China, by Deborah Noyes, The Origami Master, by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer and Aki Sogabe, and two more books by Rachel Isadora featuring African children on their covers.

In conclusion, the store did a very good job of highlighting a wide selection of books both by and about a diverse range of people and important social issues. Some author/illustrator repetition was present, though probably inevitable (Walter Dean Myers, Kadir Nelson, Rachel Isadora). A few groups were notably absent from the displays; these included Latinos, poor people, those with physical disabilities, and, to some extent, Native Americans, including the Inuit. There were books involving these groups on the shelves, but none were on display this particular evening. I didn’t see negative stereotypes at play in the books I examined, but I did notice that in a few, though certainly not all, cases books about members of non-white ethnic groups were authored by white writers, Rachel Isadora being the most prominent example. I would have been interested to see how others reacted to her illustrations -- whether they were struck more by their beauty or by their stereotypical aspects (like crazy hair on the cover of The Princess and the Pea).

Three ancillary points warrant mention. The children’s section featured two inviting wall posters – one featuring a multi-ethnic group of children and the statement “Lift Every Voice and Read,” over the Coretta Scott King Book Awards insignia, and another featuring the cover of the book Jazz, about Louis Armstrong, by Walter Dean Myers, a prolific African-American children’s book author. These were at the eye level of children and offered a subtle message of inclusion. Also, the wrapping paper at checkout was cheery and colorful paper that featured children from virtually every racial and ethnic group, a very positive message that can be “read” easily from many vantage points around the store.

The final point has nothing to do with diversity or social issues but relates to a terrific employee at this store. Bookstores, in my experience, occasionally attract arrogant employees with weak people skills, and Politics and Prose is no exception. Sylvan, the man who generally works the children’s book department at P&P, however, is one of the loveliest book-lovers I’ve ever met. He greets every customer’s request for recommendations with fresh but not overbearing enthusiasm and is genuinely knowledgeable and lit-up about children’s literature. He contributes a great deal to what is visually already a very inviting environment.