Robert Lawson was one of the giants of 20th-century American children's literature, winner of both a Newbery Medal and a Caldecott Medal. He also displayed the biases of his time, particularly in the portrayals of indigenous peoples in Captain Kidd's Cat, I Discover Columbus, and They Were Strong and Good. The first two books seem to have gone out of print while the latter lives on, probably because it was one of his Medal winners, but its faults become more obvious. Of course, we can't expect an American born in 1892 and writing about his own ancestors to display the sort of understandings that comfort us today, however well he drew and wrote.
Musings about some of my favorite fantasy literature for young readers, comics old and new, the peculiar publishing industry, the future of books, kids today, and the writing process.
26 September 2006
Robert Lawson's Revere
Robert Lawson was one of the giants of 20th-century American children's literature, winner of both a Newbery Medal and a Caldecott Medal. He also displayed the biases of his time, particularly in the portrayals of indigenous peoples in Captain Kidd's Cat, I Discover Columbus, and They Were Strong and Good. The first two books seem to have gone out of print while the latter lives on, probably because it was one of his Medal winners, but its faults become more obvious. Of course, we can't expect an American born in 1892 and writing about his own ancestors to display the sort of understandings that comfort us today, however well he drew and wrote.
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