Was the Cat in the Hat Black?

February 1, 2018

In five essays, children's lit expert and Seuss scholar Nel (The Annotated Cat) critiques the insidious nature of racism in kids' books. These often eye-opening pieces help prove the author's case that Nancy Larrick's landmark article "All-White World of Children's Books" is unfortunately as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1965. The title entry will challenge kid lit lovers to see beloved authors and books through the lens of critical race theory. Was the Cat in the Hat modeled after black face minstrelsy figures? Should "classics" be reprinted with the slurs and offensive depictions from the original versions? Why do materials containing racial erasure and whitewashed covers continue to receive acclaim and marketing budgets? Noting today's new wave of civil rights activism, Nel successfully argues that just as children's books propagate the structural racism that is often embedded in media, they can also be used as a tool to oppose it. While he makes some of his points more convincingly than others, this volume adds nuance and new layers to the current conversation on the need for diversity in children's books. His conclusion, "A Manifesto for Anti-Racist Literature," provides actionable steps that producers and consumers of children's literature-authors, scholars, parents, librarians, educators, and publishing professionals-can take to dismantle the white supremacy inherent in the industry. Informative and crucial black-and-white illustrations, photos, charts, and diagrams are peppered throughout. Extensive notes and bibliography will inspire further study on the subject. VERDICT A necessary purchase for academic and professional reading collections.-Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
An acclaimed children's literature scholar picks up the mantle of Walter Dean Myers, Nancy Larrick, and others by exploring the ways in which the lack of diversity in children's literature negatively affects American culture as a whole.Working off of the premise that America has entered a new era of civil rights, Nel (English/Kansas State Univ.; Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature, 2012, etc.) asserts that the "cultures of childhood play a prominent role in replicating prejudice" and that stereotypes within literature are maintained and replicated through a combination of nostalgia, structural racism, fervent belief in the myth of American exceptionalism, and lack of exposure to varied minority life experiences. Referencing politics, popular culture, and his personal history, each of the author's five chapters draws a different correlation between the power of visual culture--of which children's books are an integral part--and fraught events such as the killing of Trayvon Martin and the recent presidential election. While Nel does not believe that the publishing industry deliberately perpetuates stereotypes, the enduring popular books that he references are his proof that doing so normalizes racial caricature for children, as beloved characters become so embedded in culture that their racial origins become invisible to successive generations of readers. In each chapter, the author demonstrates why he is considered a master in his field, as he faultlessly blends history and anecdote with insightful criticism. The second chapter, which discusses attempts to sanitize books such as Huckleberry Finn, is particularly enlightening. Directly addressing Alan Gribben's edition of the book, which removes the "N-Word," Nel adeptly points out that removing it not only misses the point of Twain's work, but also makes the book's racism more covert and therefore more insidious. Occasionally the author's political leanings become apparent, which may turn away nonliberal readers. A fascinating and necessary critical work.

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November 1, 2017
Written in an avuncular style and very lightly lettered, Bruce Handy's Wild Things is a civilian's survey of a generous handful of canonical children's books--Goodnight Moon, The Cat in the Hat, Ramona the Pest, etc. Handy's approach includes anecdotes gleaned from his own childhood and fatherhood; some publishing history (probably already mostly known to Horn Book readers); and throughout, a palpable enthusiasm for the field. If telling us that In the Night Kitchen is a story about sex is perhaps less original or naughty than Handy seems to think it is, the author's account of his secret childhood passion for the Oz stories is funny and authentic. In his writing about The Cat in the Hat and the Little House books, Handy barely glances at the long-running debates about racism in children's literature; for Philip Nel, in Was the Cat in the Hat Black?, it's his entire subject. Nel's discussions of the changing fortunes (and texts!) of such books as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Mary Poppins are thorough and used toward a persuasive argument: yes, these books are racist, and yes, it matters. Perhaps even more enlightening is Nel's analysis of not just how many children's books there are by non-white authors and illustrators but what sorts of books they are publishing--or being allowed to publish. Why is there so little African American fantasy for young people? The book is passionate, informative well beyond its declared scope, and completely up to date--Nel (also author of Laughter and Resistance: Humor as a Weapon in the Age of Trump, May/June 2017 Horn Book) looks forward to a post-Trump presidency where a federal Anti-Racist Education Act could perhaps be realized. roger sutton

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)