This week, I revisited the essay “Politics on Children’s Literature” by Belinda Louie. This was interesting to go back to as we near the end of the semester because we have talked more about the different ways that books could be censored. In the essay, she talks about what goes into children’s literature and all of the people who interact with it. There are the authors, parents, kids, teachers, publishers, and the general public. Every person who fits into one of these categories has a different perspective as to what is appropriate and how to properly deal with books that aren’t. The thing that had surprised me the most was how often kids self-regulate when it comes to the content they intake. Louie claims that kids “choose books that are pleasant.” Young children don’t like to read or hear things that are upsetting so they make sure to avoid any possible run-ins with uncomfortable topics. When a teacher picks out a required reading with these situations, kids are taken out of their comfort zone, which in turn makes the parents upset.

Looking back on all the books that I have read, there is one book that probably would have had a more negative reaction had I been in a larger school. In fifth grade, my class read Call it Courage  by Armstrong Sperry. Reflecting on it now, the book was riddled with problems that I can’t wait to discuss. Firstly, the book had some scary themes for it being a children’s book. The main character was bullied by his whole island for being traumatized after seeing his mom die. He runs away to an island where he is being chased by cannibals. I remember when I was reading this, most of my class didn’t exactly know what cannibals were. I knew though, and reading the book was kind of frightening. I know that my parents didn’t know what the book was about even though I don’t think they would have objected had they known. I’m assuming that most of the parents didn’t know the themes of the book because I don’t remember anyone ever complaining other than a few of the kids who understood what cannibalism was.

Another problem with the book, that as kids we had no way of grasping, was the cultural issues brought up in the book. The book is set on a real island in the pacific ocean. I know that a lot of students in the class had assumed that the real island had cannibals on it. Also, the author was a white male born in the United States. Because the book was written in 1940, I can’t expect it to have kept up with modern ideas of cultural awareness. It does show a lot about those who chose to have the book read to ten-year-olds.

There are a lot of people who interact with the books that are given to children to read. I think that because kids are known to self regulate, I think that it would be better to allow them to choose what they want to read, not just at home, but have some more input at school as well.