The Places You Will Go

Picture Book of the Month: The Blacker the Berry

October 2009

The Blacker the Berry
Author: Joyce Carol Thomas
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper
Publisher: Amistad, 32 pages
Year: 2008
ISBN: 978-0060253752
Malaysians, taught, from the cradle, to value a fair complexion, may be surprised to encounter a celebration of dark skin. Different shades of African-American skin are lusciously and sensuously described by Joyce Carol Thomas, and then rendered just as sumptuously by Floyd Cooper's illustrations, making it abundantly clear that bitter chocolate is as beautiful as vanilla. The Blacker the Berry won the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award. This book was part of What a Wonderful World: A Multicultural Journey Through Text and Pictures, held at Kinokuniya Bookstore Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur from 1st-31st October, 2009.

Land of Myths and Legends

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I’VE just read a fabulous adventure fantasy called Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano (Publisher: Arthur A. Levine, ISBN: 978-0545005425). It’s the first book, in a series of 10, about Balsa, professional bodyguard who was trained in combat from childhood.

Balsa was compelled to leave her home in the land of Kanbal at the age of six. Her father, Karuna Ronsa, was the king’s personal physician and the king’s brother, Rogsam, threatened to kill Balsa unless Karuna agreed to poison the king. Knowing that he and his daughter would be put to death anyway, Karuna begged his friend, martial arts master Jirguro, to take Balsa far away and out of danger. Jiguro eventually trained Balsa to fight so that she would be able to defend herself if anything happened to him.

Liar!

The ARC cover of Justine Larbalestier's new book, Liar, showed a white girl although the novel's main character is black. In the past, Ursula Le Guin has also faced this problem of whitewashing.

However, following protests from librarians, bloggers and Larbalestier herself, Bloomsbury changed the final cover.

Read all about it here.

A few weeks ago, I touched on the issue of how "white" covers sell better in Malaysia and recommended some books about characters of colour. Read the column here.

The Whole Picture

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

SEVERAL years ago, I worked as a sub-editor at a local entertainment magazine. Our covers featured the stars of the music and movie industry, but we were careful to avoid black musicians and actors as we knew that sales would dip if we did. I don't know if things have changed since then. I don't know if Barack Obama has changed Malaysians' perceptions of black people. I know our children still have much fewer black role models than white ones.

Children's television has more pale-skinned stars than dark-skinned heroes. There are no black characters in Barbie movies, although, in general, children's TV is a lot less dominated by white actors than programmes for adults are.

Storybooks, however, feature mostly white characters - or rather, books with mostly-white characters are the ones you find in our bookstores. Like fashion magazines with black models on the cover, books with black characters on their covers don't sell well. I have noticed that the children and teens I work with rarely pick books that show black characters on their covers.

This has, to a degree, to do with the Asian idea that fair skin is more attractive than dark skin, but it is also because of the lack of exposure. I grew up with stories that depicted white, not brown-skinned children and I still find myself identifying more easily and readily with books about white children. It's a habit I'm trying to break. Back in the 70s and 80s, books (especially children's books) were scarce enough, let alone books that described the lives of non-caucasian characters. We are luckier these days. Stories about Asian, black and hispanic characters are available in bookstores - they may not be prominently displayed but they are there for the asking.

Writing for Our Children

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

ON Dec 30, an article on Bloomberg.com discussed how blacks and hispanics are rarely the main characters in books that win the prestigious Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature (the last time a book with a black protagonist won the Newbery was in 2000. The book was Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis).

In the article, Sherman Alexie said, “We are going to have a black president - literature should catch up.” Alexie is a Native American whose book, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, won the National Book Award for young people's literature in 2007.

His comment, I believe, is directed more towards writers than to award committees. Hopefully, a growing minority population (according to the U.S. Census Bureau, "one out of three Americans is now a member of a minority group") will mean a growing number of minority writers and illustrators who will produce work that, as Pat Scales, president of the Association for Library Service to Children (the division of the American Library Asoociation that takes charge of the Newbery award) puts it, "mirror society".

Meanwhile, the ALA has the Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpre awards, respectively for black and Latino writers and illustrators. When it was created in 1996, the Pura Belpre was awarded once in two years because there wasn't enough books by Latino authors and illustrators, but starting this year, the award will be given annually. So, it looks like there is an increase in work by minority authors and artists.

I'm highlighting this issue because it made me think of the dearth of children's literature that reflects Malaysian society. Our children and teenagers are immersed in American and, to a lesser degree, British pop culture. This includes the books they read. Currently popular titles (Twilight, Harry Potter, Eragon, Wicked Lovely) may not even be set in this world, and their characters may not even be human, but the cultural traditions used as references in the creation of these worlds and characters are obviously American and European.