A Close Look at CCBCs 2016 Data on Books By About American Indians First Nations

A Close Look at CCBCs 2016 Data on Books By About American Indians First Nations

Eds. note: See AICLs list for 2016. 

On February 15, 2017, Cooperative Childrens Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin released its statistics on the numbers of childrens books by/about American Indians/First Nations and People of Color during the year 2016. 

This is vitally important work that CCBC has been doing for many years. Two important things to know about these statistics (I am not critical of CCBC at all in noting these two things; doing some of this work myself, I know how very hard it is to do, to get books, and then to categorize/analyze them).

The data is based on books that are sent to them. Small publishers generally cannot afford to send books out to review journals, bloggers, or centers like CCBC. That means books by small publishers who do great books by/about Native peoples may not be included in the data. It also means, however, that books by small publishers (or self published books) who do stereotypical books by Native people may not be included.

The data is statistical. It is a count. It is not about the quality of the books on the list. To see what they recommend, see CCBC Choices. 

CCBC sent me the log of Native books for their 2016 counts. For the last few years I have been taking a close look at their log, focusing on fiction (as tagged by CCBC; books tagged as picture books are not included in this list) published by US publishers. Heres what I see. 

Note! 
Books in blue font are ones I recommend. 
Books in red font are ones I do not recommend.
Books in bold are from "Big Five" publishers.
Book in plain, black font are ones I have not read, with one exception (I have mixed feelings about Alexies book.)

Fiction, US Publishers (books in bold are by one of the Big Five publishers)

Heres the list of fiction written by Native people (N = 4):

• Bruchac, Joseph. The Long Run. 7th Generation
• Bruchac, Joseph. Talking Leaves. Dial/Penguin
• Erdrich, Louise. Makoons. HarperCollins
• Smelcer, John. Stealing Indians. Leapfrog Press (Note: Smelcers claim to Native identity is contested)

Now heres the books on the CCBC list, by writers who are not Native (N = 17):

• Abbott, E. F. Mary Jemison: Native American Captive. Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan
• Carson, Rae. Like a River Glorious. Greenwillow/HarperCollins
• Flanagan, John. Brotherband: The Ghostface. Penguin
• Flood, Nancy Bo. Soldier Sister Fly Home. Charlesbridge
• Heacox, Kim. Jimmy Bluefeather. Alaska Northwest Books
• Hitchcock, Bonnie Sue. The Smell of Other Peoples Houses. Wendy Lamb/Penguin
• Inglis, Lucy. Crow Mountain. Scholastic
• Harrison, Margot. The Killer in Me. Hyperion/Hachette Book Group
• Lewis, Ali. Timber Creek Station. Carolrhoda Lab
• MacColl, Michaela. The Lost Ones. Calkins/Highlights
• Mann, J. Albert. Scar: A Revolutionary War Tale. Calkins/Highlights
• Massena, Ed. Wandmaker. Scholastic
• Oppel, Kenneth. Every Hidden Thing. Simon and Schuster
• Patel, Sonia. Rani Patel in Full Effect. Cinco Puntos Press
• Reeve, Kirk. Sun Father Corn Mother. Sun Stone Press  
• Stokes, Jonathan. Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas. Philomel/Penguin
• Velasquez, Crystal. Circle of Lies (Hunters of Chaos, Bk 2). Aladdin/Simon and Schuster

Who publishes what?
In 2016, the Big Five published two Native writers (Bruchac and Erdrich). Of those two, Ive read and recommend Makoons. Bruchacs book is out for review.

In 2016, the Big Five published eight non-Native writers (Abbott, Carson, Flanagan, Hitchcock, Harrison, Oppel, Stokes, and Velasquez). Of those eight, Ive read and do not recommend Carson, Hitchcock, and Harrison (not all reviews are online yet). I also do not recommend some of the non-Native books from small publishers: Flood, MacColl, Mann, Massena (not all reviews are online yet).


A comparison between 2015 and 2016

---------------------------------------------------2015--------------2016-------
Books by Native writers............................3......................4............              
Books by Non-Native writers....................7.....................17...........


From US publishers, there were 10 in 2015. For 2016, it is 21. That is a huge change, but it is due to non-Native writers. Of the 17, Ive read eight and found all of them lacking in some way. What will I find if I read the other nine? Based on experience, Im not optimistic. Ernie Cox, at Reading While White, reviewed Abbotts book about Mary Jemison. I trust his review. I think it would end up on my not recommended list.

Theres more to do, in terms of analyzing CCBCs data. Thats what Ive got, for now.

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Update, Feb 23 2017, 10:20 AM -- back to list titles in fiction/Canada, and picture books in US and Canada. 

Fiction, Canadian Publishers. (Note: none in either category are by Big Five publishers.)

Native Writers (N = 2):

• Currie, Susan. The Mask That Sang. Second Story Press
• McLay, R. K. The Rahtrum Chronicles. Fifth House

Non-Native Writers (N = 4)

• Bass, Karen. The Hill. Pajama Press
• Koner, Miriam. Yellow Dog. Red Deer Press
• Ouriou, Susan. Nathan. Red Deer Press
• Richardson, Eve. Saving Stevie. Red Deer Press

It is interesting that there are not any books from the Big Five. The Big Five are in Canada, too, with "Canada" tagged on.

For example, Robbie Robertsons Testimony is published by Knopf Canada, which is part of Penguin Random House Canada. It is non-fiction, by the way, and it isnt meant for children. It came out in 2016. My guess is that it wasnt sent to CCBC. Robertson is Native. Another example is Joseph Boydens Three Day Road. It is published by Penguin Canada. It came out in 2008, in the adult market, but is assigned to high school students. Boyden is not Native.

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Picture books, US Publishers:

Native writers (N = 2):

• Alexie, Sherman; illustrated by Yuji Morales. Thunder Boy Jr. Little Brown
• Connally, Judy Shi, and Lawana Tomlinson Dansby; illustrated by Norma Howard. My Choctaw Roots. Choctaw Print Services.

Non-Native writers (N = 3)

• Burton, Jeffrey; illustrated by Sanja Rescek. The Itsy Bitsy Pilgrim. Little Simon
• Lai, Trevor. Tomo Explores the World. 
• Marshall, Linda Elovitz; illustrated by Elisa Chavarri. Rainbow Weaver = Tejedora del acoiris. Childrens Book Press/Lee & Low.

___________________________________

Picture books, Canadian Publishers (none in either category are by Big Five publishers)

Native writers (N = 9)

• Avingaq, Susan and Maren Vsetula; illustated by Charlene Chua. Fishing with Grandma. Inhabit Media
• Baker, Darryl; illustrated by Qin Leng. Kamik Joins the Pack. Inhabit Media
• Dupuis, Jenny Kay (and Kathy Kacer); illustrated by Gillian Newland. I Am Not A Number. Second Story Press
• Highway, Tomson; illustrated by Julie Flett. Dragonfly Kites/Pimithaagansa. Fifth House
• Kalluk, Celina; illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis. Sweetest Kulu. Inhabit Media
• Mike, Nadia; illustrated by Charlene Chua. Leahs Mustache Party. Inhabit Media.
• Robertson, David Alexander; illustrated by Julie Flett. When We Were Alone. Highwater Press
• Smith, Monique Gray; illustrated by Julie Flett. My Heart Fills With Happiness. Orca
• Van Camp, Richard; illustrated by Julie Flett. We Sang You Home. Orca.

Non-Native writers (N = 1)

• Currie, Robin; illustrated by Phyllis Saroff. Tuktuk: Tundra Tale. Arbordale

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A Close Look at CCBCs 2015 Data on Books By About American Indians First Nations

A Close Look at CCBCs 2015 Data on Books By About American Indians First Nations

On February 23, the Cooperative Childrens Book Center at the University of Wisconsin released its statistics on the numbers of childrens books by/about American Indians/First Nations and People of Color during the year 2015. Their data is based on books that are sent to them. It is raw data that does not address the quality of the books themselves. This data is important and Im very glad they collect it. I use it in my work.

In 2015, CCBC estimates that they received about 3,400 books. Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen at St. Catherine University, working with illustrator David Huyck, Molly Beth Griffin, and several others (including me), created a graphic that depicts the CCBC data for 2015. Kudos to Sarah for getting it done. David Huycks idea--to reflect the percentages by different sized mirrors--is excellent. Including animals, trucks, etc., is also excellent because it tells us that there are more books about animals, trucks, etc. than about any individual demographic. Thats deeply troubling.

As of this writing (Thursday, September 15, 2016), the graphic has gone viral. It is being widely shared across social media. Im very glad to see that, but Im also seeing lots of assumptions about the data itself. My post today is a close look at the data specific to Native peoples and my attempt to look closely at that 0.9% on the graphic.

Earlier this year, CCBC sent me the list of books on their American Indian Log (it includes First Nations, Latin America, Pacific Islands, and New Zealand). There are a lot of ways to analyze their list. I may do more with the list in another post, but for now, Im focusing on fiction (according to CCBCs tags) published by US publishers.

Fiction, US publishers:

Heres the list of fiction written or illustrated by Native people (titles in blue are ones that AICL has recommended, here or elsewhere; titles in black have not been reviewed)

• Bruchac, Joseph. Trail of the Dead. Published by Tu Books/Lee and Low (Apache)
• Bruchac, Joseph. Walking Two Worlds. Published by 7th Generation (Iroquois)
• Robertson, Robbie. Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. Published by Abrams Books for Young Readers. (Mohawk)

Now heres the books on the CCBC list, by writers and illustrators who are not Native (titles in red are ones that AICL reviewed here or elsewhere and did not recommend; titles in black have not been reviewed)

• Bowman, Erin. Vengeance Road. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (Apache)
• Johnston, E. K. Prairie Fire. Published by Carolrhoda/Lerner. (Haida and Tseshaht)
• Osborne, Mary Pope. Shadow of the Shark. Published by Random House. (Maya)
• Rose, Caroline Starr. Blue Birds. Published by Penguin/Putnam. (Tribal nation not specified)
• Shepherd, Megan. The Cage. Published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins. (Maori)
• Velasquez, Crystal. Hunters of Chaos. Published by Aladdin/Simon and Schuster. (Mayan and Navajo)
• Voelkel, J & P. The Jaguar Stones: The Lost City. Published by EgmontUSA. (Maya)

Who publishes what?
In 2015, the Big Five publishers did not publish Native writers. Over half of the books the Big Five published misrepresent and/or stereotype Native peoples. As I found in the 2013 data set, Native writers get published by smaller publishers.

What does that mean?
If teachers/librarians wanted to get all 11 of the fiction from US publishers on the 2015 CCBC list, theyd likely have a harder time getting those from the smaller publishers because those arent stocked in stores like ones from the major publishers. Given the poor quality in the books from the Big Five, children will most easily see problematic depictions of Native people.

Is there a focus on one Native people?
Yes. There are 3 books with content specific to the Mayan people. I think thats interesting because this sample is US publishers. We might expect that, in sum, wed see them publishing books about US tribal nations, but, no! It is very hard to make generalizations based on such a tiny set of data, but what do you think?

What settings (chronologically) get published?
There are 11 books. Some are straight up historical fiction (Blue Birds). Several, like Shadow of the Shark are hard to categorize because theres time travel. I think this sample is not large enough to make any definitive statements about setting, but what do you see? What observations might you make?

The bottom line:

The Native child in the new graphic is holding a very small mirror. 

When you take a close look at the quality of the books that could be mirroring her in some way, what she gets is, primarily, distortions. 

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This post was updated on September 16 to correct an error. Patty Loews book was incorrectly listed in the CCBC log as fiction. It is nonfiction and has therefore been removed from the list of books by small publishers, above. 

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