Showing posts with label The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks. Show all posts

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Update on Berenstain Bears Give Thanks

Last week I published an excellent letter from Kim, a reader who wrote to tell me about The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks.

I ordered a copy from the library. It arrived Thursday. I read it the next day. (My thoughts are in italics.)

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The book begins by telling us "It was autumn in Bear Country" with leaves turning colors, cooler air, geese heading south, and Farmer Ben harvesting his crop. Papa Bear had made some furniture for Farmer Ben, and Papa, Brother, and Sister Bear were delivering it. In payment, Papa was going to get something from Farmer Ben's farm. Papa Bear thinks about some honey, but Farmer Ben suggests his tom turkey, Squanto. Sister Bear asks why he is named 'Squanto' and Ben tells her:
"That was the name of the Native Bear who helped the Pilgrims plant their corn when they settled in their new home. Squanto celebrated the first Thanksgiving with them after their harvest. I couldn't think of a better name for a turkey."
Debbie's thoughts: Native Bear? But not Pilgrim Bear? Why the difference?

Sister Bear doesn't like the idea and asks Papa Bear if she can keep Squanto for a pet. Papa tells her no, that turkeys don't make good pets. Sister Bear likes Squanto and visits him every day, growing more and more attached to him, and sadder over what is going to happen to him. Mama Bear consoles and distracts Sister Bear by suggesting they put on a Thanksgiving show. It works. Sister Bear throws herself into writing a script for the show. They make "Pilgrim and Native Bear" costumes using Squanto's feathers.

Debbie's thoughts: The text doesn't say "Pilgrim Bears" anywhere, but "Native Bear" appears several times. 

On Thanksgiving Day, they perform the play. Sister kicks it off, dressed as a "Pilgrim maiden."

Debbie's thoughts: Not a Pilgrim Bear maiden---just a Pilgrim maiden. 

Brother Bear says:
The Pilgrims lived in the Old Country. They wanted to worship God in the way they believed was right. But the rulers of the Old Country would not let them do this. The Pilgrims wanted to leave their home and seek a new land where they could worship in freedom.
Debbie's thoughts: Ok, but what did the people seeking freedom from persecution do once here?! In case you don't know... they set out to "civilize" and Christianize the Indian people here who were living in well-established societies with religious practices of their own.  

The show continues:
After going to shore, they found a good place to live. They called it Plymouth.

They gave thanks to God for bringing them safely to the new land. Then they got to work building houses for their village. Finally it was finished. Everyone had a home.
Then, Sister Bear points to a doorway where the illustration shows a silhouetted figure on all fours. Sister Bear's line is:
Look, who is that coming into the village? It is a Native Bear. I hope he is friendly!
Turning the page, we see a bear in the turkey feather headdress. This bear is on hands and knees, but raises one paw up.

Debbie's thoughts: I could say she's waving, but it is also likely she was raising that paw to say "How" (because pop culture has persuaded us that is the way Indians say hello). 

The "Native Bear" doesn't actually say "How." Instead, she says "ME, SQUANTO." Her line is in caps. All other dialogue (in voice balloons) are in lower case.

Debbie's observations: I gather we're meant to understand that she speaks loudly. I'm saying "she" because this Native Bear is wearing a headband with a heart on it. On one of the last pages in the book, she is shown in a high chair. Given her age, I could say that she entered the room on all fours because she doesn't yet walk. But let's consider some larger context.  Native characters are often "less than" other characters, and they're often portrayed as animal-like.

The dialogue continues, with Brother Bear saying:
Squanto was friendly. He helped the Pilgrims grow more food. He showed them how to plant corn. Without Squanto, they would have starved.
The show continues with the Thanksgiving feast. Squanto came to it, too, joining all of them in bowing their heads and giving thanks to God for their new home "where they could live in peace and freedom."

Debbie's thoughts: Who is "they" that lives in peace and freedom?

The show is over, and it is time to eat. Sister Bear suddenly remembers Squanto. Papa Bear tells her that he changed his mind. She can keep Squanto as her pet.

Debbie's thoughts: As I noted last week, the Squanto storyline is very troubling. This Squanto lives in a pen, is traded as a foodstuff, fattened up, saved from death, and then turned into a pet. And who does all of that to him? The Bear family who is meant to be the Pilgrims. They've got full control over his life and his death---a life meant to represent Indians.

In the story, the Pilgrims are never called Bears, but Squanto the Native is always a "Native Bear." Isn't that a double standard? They're ALL bears, right?!

And why is this Squanto played by a baby who has no name of her own? Why does she speak that way ("ME, SQUANTO")??? In caps??? Overall, the book is worse than any other book about Thanksgiving that I can think of. I hope it isn't in your home or your library.

Monday, April 04, 2011

Letter from reader about THE BERENSTAIN BEARS GIVE THANKS in which the Bears fatten up Squanto (their turkey)

Last week, Kim in Canada wrote to me...

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Hi Debbie,

Here's another book to add to your poison pile of inappropriate, misleading Thanksgiving resources (if it's not already there).
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21451595/The-Berenstain-Bears-Give-Thanks-Full-Book

I found it on my nephews' bookshelf when I was reading them bedtime stories a couple of weeks ago. I was immediately suspicious as soon as I saw the cover, but before I could talk my nephews into reading another book, the 6-year-old caught a glimpse of one of the illustrations inside and the first thing out of his mouth was "That's a First Nations bear!" (he's in the middle of a unit on treaties at his school). At 6, he's apparently already absorbed the dominant society's misconception that all Aboriginal peoples in North America are signified with headdresses. Sigh.

I asked my sister where she got the book, and she said the boys chose it from a book fair at their school. I explained to her why I didn't want to read it to my nephews, and she donated it to the library where I work so we can include it on our shelf of "not recommended" kid lit (our main clientele are Metis and First Nations students studying to be elementary school teachers).

I just assumed that a book this bad (it manages to include every single bit of American Thanksgiving misinformation and stereotyping out there; to add insult to injury, the turkey in the book is named Squanto) would have been written in the 1970s or 1980s with all of the other Berenstain Bears books I grew up with, so I didn't give it much thought. As I was cataloging it today, though, I was shocked (well, more dismayed than shocked, I guess, as I'm a regular reader of your blog) to see that it had been published in 2009. And in a series of books called "Living Lights," which professes to "help children learn how God wants them to live every day,"  no less.

Sorry to go on for so long. Thanks so much for your blog. Reading it has been a big part of my education over the last couple of years.

Kim
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I read Kim's email and clicked on the link she provided. On that page you can read most of the book.

I....

Well. I have literally been stuck on that "I..." ever since I got Kim's email and looked at the book. I don't know what to say. I'm shocked, and not shocked. I'm surprised, and not surprised. Maybe the right word is disgusted.

I'm disgusted.

They named the turkey Squanto! And they're fattening him up so they can KILL him and EAT him. In the end, he is saved and turned into their PET. Kristina Seleshanko, managing editor of the Christian Children's Book Review, writes on Amazon that:
when Mama calls "Dinnertime!", Sister suddenly remembers Squanto. But she's relieved when Papa points out the window at the pen he's made for the family's new pet: the turkey Squanto. A fine salmon is the center of the family's Thanksgiving dinner and when prayers of thanksgiving to God go round, Sister adds, "And I am especially thankful for my wonderful new pet, Squanto the turkey!" "AMEN!" everyone cries. 
Amen?! Can you see why this book is problematic? Are Jan and Mike Berenstain that obtuse?! Or do they know perfectly well what they're doing???

Is The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks in your library?  If it is, can you move it, as Kim is doing, to a place where it can be used as a teaching tool?

You can also write to Jan and Mike Berenstain at this email address: zauthor@zondervan.com. Or directly to Zondervan (the publisher) at zreview@zondervan.com.

Note: Sunday, March 11, 2012
See the follow-up at Update on Berenstain Bears Give Thanks
You might also be interested in the stereotyping in Berenstain Bears Go to Camp.