Many reviewers
of books for young readers give a free pass to the often-oversimplified
narratives and illustrations that constitute pictorial biographies. I have seen
and heard, more often than not, comments to the effect that these are “just”
for children and therefore, should not contain more than brief chronologies of
events. It is my firm belief, however, that young children who are challenged
to think deeply are capable of understanding complex issues and responding
positively. Values such as “empathy,” “honesty,” “kindness,” “respect” and
“fairness,” among others, can be encouraged early on if they are modeled in
life—and shown in picture books.
I use the word
“shown” because one of my other firm beliefs is that children shown how to think are more likely—than are
those who are “told” only what to
think—to develop into critical readers and thinkers, children who will apply
what they have learned to their lives.
To illustrate
how some picture books “show” and others “tell,” let’s look at a pair of
excerpts, each from the introduction to a picture book about César Chávez.
Following the excerpts are my comments.
Excerpt 1:
As
a child, Cesar Chavez traveled with his family from one farm to the next to
pick beans, broccoli, lettuce, and other crops. After a day in the fields, his
back often ached. His hands were sore. Yet Chavez and others who helped put
food on Americans’ tables often had no tables of their own, no real homes.
Later, Cesar Chavez would lead the fight for better pay, working conditions,
and health care for families such as his.
Excerpt 2:
¡Híjole!
Who
could tell?
Who
could tell
that
Cesario Estrada Chávez,
the
shy American
wearing
a checkered shirt,
walking
with a cane to ease his back
from
the burden of the fields,
could
organize so many people
to
march for La Causa, The
Cause!
Who
could tell
that
he with a soft pan dulce voice,
hair
the color of mesquite,
and
downcast, Aztec eyes,
would
have the courage to speak up
for
the campesinos
to
get better pay,
better
housing,
better
health?
¡Híjole!
Comments: While
Excerpt 1 implies that César Chávez was born poor, that he had no real home,
and that he was not American, Excerpt 2 makes no such implications.
While Excerpt 1 dispassionately tells
young readers that “after a day in the fields, his back often ached” and “his
hands were sore,” Excerpt 2 shows them
the effects of a lifetime of difficult labor: “walking with a cane to ease his
back/ from the burden of the fields.” While Excerpt 2 shows young readers how César Chávez belonged to the land and the
culture (“shy American,” “hair the color of mesquite,” “soft pan dulce voice,” and “downcast Aztec
eyes”), Excerpt 1 does not.
Now, here are
some more excerpts from picture books about César Chávez, including the ones
we’ve already examined. Each excerpt below either “shows” or “tells” about an
aspect of his life. In each category: Which ones carry stated or unstated
assumptions that “tell” children what to think? Which ones “show” or gently
lead children into understanding? Which ones are more likely to engage child
readers? Which ones are more likely to encourage empathy in child readers?
Early
Childhood
Facts: As a
young child, Cesario Chávez lived with his large extended family on an 80-acre
ranch, where the family produced all that they needed, not only for a
comfortable life, but also to stock their grocery store and feed homeless
people who happened by. Cesario and his siblings were raised on the dichos of their mother, the examples of
their father, and the stories of their grandparents—and lots of love. He later
wrote, “I had more happy moments as a child than unhappy moments.”
Cesar
Chavez was born in 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. His family had a grocery store and
a farm. Cesar was born in a little room over the grocery store.
Everyone
in the Chavez family worked on their farm. Cesar’s father planted seeds in the
dirt. He hoed away the weeds. He dug ditches to bring water from the river to
the farm. Without water, the crops could not grow. Cesar and Richard fed the
horses, cows, and chickens. They gathered eggs. Rita washed clothes by hand.
Juana made tortillas from ground corn. Their family was poor.
Cesar
woke up early each morning and did the usual farm chores. He carried water from
the nearby canal, fed the animals, and gathered eggs. Then he went to school.
Until
Cesar Chavez was ten, every summer night was like a fiesta. Relatives swarmed
onto the ranch for barbeques with watermelon, lemonade, and fresh corn. Cesar
and his brothers, sisters, and cousins settled down to sleep outside, under
netting to keep mosquitoes out. But who could sleep—with uncles and aunts
singing, spinning ghost stories, and telling magical tales of life back in
Mexico? Cesar
thought the whole world belonged to his family. The eighty acres of their ranch
were an island in the shimmering Arizona desert, and the starry skies were all
their own.
Family
Facts: Cesario’s
extended family was huge: Besides grandparents, parents, sisters and brothers,
there were aunts, uncles and cousins. These loving role models were always
around. From his father, he learned the value of honest work, however hard—and
the inequities of the farm labor system. From his mother, he learned the value
of compassion and the importance of caring for poor and homeless people. From
his grandparents, aunts and uncles, he learned about faith, the history of his
people, and how to read in Spanish.
Cesar’s
father was often too busy to spend time with his family. It was Cesar’s mom who
kept them together. She told her children stories. She taught them values and
many proverbs, such as “What you do to others, others do to you.”
At
night, Cesar watched his father make toy cars from tin cans and small pieces of
wood. Cesar and his brothers played with their cars on the floor. At bedtime,
their grandmother listened to the children’s prayers.
(Librado)
taught César
how
to make cars
out
of sardine cans
and
tractors
out
of spools of thread….
Tugged
at César’s ears
and
patted his head….
(Juana)
often spoke to César in dichos,
taught
him from the Bible.
“What
does the Lord require of you,
but
to do justice,
to
love kindness,
and
to walk humbly with your God?”
Hated
violence.
“God
gave you senses,
like
your eyes, and mind, and tongue
and
you can get out of everything.”
Gave
César manzanilla tea,
Until
Cesar Chavez was ten, every summer night was like a fiesta. Relatives swarmed
onto the ranch for barbeques with watermelon, lemonade, and fresh corn. Cesar
and his brothers, sisters, and cousins settled down to sleep outside, under
netting to keep mosquitoes out. But who could sleep—with uncles and aunts
singing, spinning ghost stories, and telling magical tales of life back in
Mexico?
César
learned from his parents. His mother told him many stories that taught about
the importance of helping the poor and not being violent. César’s grandmother
also taught him how to believe in God and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
César’s uncle taught him to read in Spanish.
School
Facts: School
was a horrible time for young Cesario. Here is where his name was changed to
“Cesar,” and he was taught that all that he learned from his family was
worthless; that he was “less than” because he spoke, read and wrote in Spanish.
The usual punishment for young César and his Spanish-speaking friends was
humiliation—and to have the Spanish beaten out of them. Needless to say, he
hated school. But he remained, learning to speak, read and write English, and
learning the other skills that would serve him later in life. César was the
first in his family to graduate from eighth grade.
The teacher told the children to speak
English. Speaking English was hard. Everyone spoke Spanish at home. Many times,
Cesar forgot to speak English. Then the teachers hit his fingers with a ruler.
The Chavez family spoke Spanish at home;
but in school, whenever Cesar spoke Spanish, his teacher hit him. “It’s a
terrible thing,” he later said, “when you have your own language and customs,
and those are shattered.”
School was an unwelcoming place. He
wasn’t allowed to speak Spanish, the family’s household language. In fact
speaking it brought on punishment. All Cesar would remember of school was the
whistling of the ruler as it came down on his wrist or knuckles.
Once, after Cesar broke the rule about
speaking English at all times, a teacher hung a sign on him that read, I AM A
CLOWN. I SPEAK SPANISH. He came to hate school because of the conflicts, though
he liked to learn.
One word in Spanish,
just one word,
and ¡Fuii! whistled the
ruler
across César’s knuckles
its edge cutting sharply.
The teacher hung a sign
around his neck:
“I am a clown.
I speak Spanish.”
“If you’re an American,”
she said,
“speak only in English.
If you want to speak in Spanish,
In 1992, I
worked with an ad hoc group of Bay Area parents, students, school workers and
community activists. Together, we gave our skills and life experiences to a
project that evaluated a set of history and social studies textbooks with a
collective eye on giving our diverse community’s children what they needed to
survive and thrive. The
insidious message with the focus of these textbooks, as we stated, was this: “In
order for some children to be proud of their histories, other children must be
made ashamed of theirs.” We went on to say, “We have to teach (all our
children) who they are, where they came from, and how they can change the
world.”
It’s not enough
for children to be told the facts. Children need to be shown to see the colors,
hear the music, sniff the air, taste the food, touch the trees and feel the
emotions. ¡Sí, se puede!
—Beverly Slapin
(published 12/8/13)
Richard Griswold del Castillo, César
Chávez: The Struggle for Justice / La lucha por la justicia, illustrated by
Anthony Accardo. Piñata Books, 2002.
author: Rudolfo A. Anaya 
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