KHH1

By JENNIFER SCHUESSLERNOV. 6, 2015

Diversity has been a burning topic in children’s publishing in recent years, as editors, authors and librarians have debated how to tell more inclusive and accurate stories about America’s past and present.

Now, a picture book for young readers that touches on slavery has ignited controversy, with some critics charging that it unwittingly perpetuates a rosy vision of that institution.

The book, “A Fine Dessert,” written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, shows four children at different points in history making a blackberry fool with a parent. The parallel stories highlight both technological changes in kitchens and the shifting social relationships that determined just who did the cooking.

Released this year by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, and intended for ages 4 to 8, the book has won rave reviews — School Library Journal called it “simply delectable” — and last week was named one of the 10 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books, chosen annually by a panel of independent judges.

But “A Fine Dessert” has met growing criticism from those who say that an eight-page sequence set on a South Carolina plantation in 1810 puts too sugary a coating on slavery. The sequence shows an enslaved mother and her young daughter making dessert and serving it to their owner’s family, before hiding in a closet to “lick the bowl clean.” In some images, the daughter is smiling.

One section of “A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat,” by Emily Jenkins and Sophie Blackall, is set on a South Carolina plantation in 1810. Credit Sonny Figueroa/The New York Times

The children’s book has been criticized for its portrayal of slavery. Credit Sonny Figueroa/The New York Times

Last week, Ms. Jenkins posted an apology online, saying that she would donate her writing fee to the campaign We Need Diverse Books.

“I have come to understand that my book, while intended to be inclusive and truthful and hopeful, is racially insensitive,” she said in the statement, posted at the blog Reading While White. “I own that and am very sorry.”

In an author’s note in the book, Ms. Jenkins — a best-selling author who has written about the importance of parents’ seeking out more diverse books — said she wanted to acknowledge history in full.

“Even though there is by no means space to explore the topic of slavery fully,” she wrote, “I wanted to represent American life in 1810 without ignoring that part of our history.”

Ms. Blackall, whose more than 20 books have been praised for their inclusive imagery, echoed the sentiment in a blog post defending the book. Children, she said, have reacted particularly strongly to the scene of the mother and daughter hiding in the closet.

They “are horrified at how unfair it is,” she said. It conveys “a complete lack of freedom.”

The author and illustrator, who are white, declined to comment for this article. But their publisher said in a statement that the goal had been “a book that parents, teachers, and librarians could use as a springboard for deeper, meaningful conversations about our history.”

While “A Fine Dessert” has found a number of defenders, including some African-Americans, detractors say that the book — which contains the words “master” and “plantation” but no overt reference to, or explanation of, slavery itself — leaves out too much.

Edi Campbell, a reference librarian at Indiana State University who blogs about children’s literature, credited Ms. Jenkins and Ms. Blackall with admirable intentions, but said that the meaning of the image of the mother and daughter hiding in the closet would probably be lost on its audience.

“To a 4-year-old or an 8-year-old, that just looks like fun,” said Ms. Campbell, who is African-American. Enslaved people, she added, would not necessarily have “risked their lives for a dessert.”

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education who has studied how schoolchildren respond to books about slavery, called the scene “degrading” and said that the book — whose subtitle is “Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat” — suggested a misleading equivalency between the enslaved family and the others.

“Publishers are not thinking enough about who is reading these books,” she added. “Imagine reading ‘A Fine Dessert’ to a classroom in Philadelphia that is 90 percent African-American. How are those kids going to feel?”

Just what kind of information about slavery to present to children, particularly very young ones, is a difficult question. While a few illustrated books, like Tom Feelings’s wordless 1996 volume, “The Middle Passage,” deal bluntly with slavery’s deepest horrors, most titles for children tend to focus on subjects like the Underground Railroad or inspiring tales of enslaved people actively struggling against oppression.

But even heroic stories hold pitfalls. Alvina Ling, the editor in chief of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, recalled intense discussions around the order of the words in the subtitle of “Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave,” a 2010 picture book about a real former slave from South Carolina who created ceramics inscribed with his verses.

“Even though he was a slave, we wanted him to be seen first as an artist,” Ms. Ling said.

Don Tate, the author and illustrator of “Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton,” about a North Carolina slave who taught himself to read and write and in 1829 became the first African-American to publish a book in the South, said in an email that children’s books about slavery needed to show suffering.

“Poet,” released in September by Peachtree Publishers, emphasizes both Horton’s accomplishments and hardships, while also describing what Mr. Tate has called the “raw rage” and other “real emotions” of enslaved people — some of whom, the book notes, “even killed their masters.”

As for smiles, Mr. Tate, who is African-American, said the question was tricky. The cover of “Poet” shows Horton holding a copy of his book and smiling broadly, while the first spread shows him “with a slight smile,” as Mr. Tate put it, opposite the words “George was enslaved.”

“That was a tough call, and I revised that spread many times,” Mr. Tate said. “I worried about what young Horton’s expression might communicate to young readers (and reviewers).”

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

No one wants to chat with you Kuntus.

I wonder why.

jelun

It is a fine balance to educate young kids about slavery as it existed, similar to the judgement concerning appropriate levels of sex education.

MajorAhrens Loc: Myrtle Beach

I'm sure you knew that there were many more white Irish slaves sent to America than black slaves who were sold by blacks to whites for a huge profit.

jelun

That story has been debunked. Regardless of that, story of slavery is one that needs to be taught honestly and in an age appropriate manner.

JMHO Loc: Utah

The key word here is 'honestly' and the liberals, especially black liberals, are incapable of teaching our youth with any real unbiased honesty...period.

KHH1

I agree Jelun......

KHH1

Go get an education....it is telling......

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

This off subject concerning your post that is quoted but I have to know when some of you people who want so much to make out that slavery was the same everywhere and to all the slaves. Do you not know that "house slaves" were usually treated much better than field ones? This story isn't really bad but who will tell others that that hiding to lick the bowl may well have been pretty false on most plantations of that day.

Have you ever heard the stories about the "whistling path" between the owners' houses and the cooking buildings? Why would those kids who delivered the food be forced to whistle while on the path? Is there a chance that we all know it is very hard to eat and whistle at the same time? Could one of them dip his fingers into the mashed potatoes and then lick them clean while whistling?

It is past time that we teach kids that slavery was very bad but teach them some of the real truths about it. I am saying here that too many slaves that were freed after the Civil War barely managed to survive because they didn't have their masters to look after them.

One of the heroes of the Civil War, who I just don't care for, at all, was John Brown. There is a huge mural of him and some of his people on the Capitol building of Kansas that I just don't like. Why do I feel like this? I know that Brown went to West Virginia and Virginia freeing slaves alone the way to get up an army of slaves to kill plantation owners. Oh yeah, he even raided an armory at Harper's Ferry to get weapons for his "freed" army to kill with. He is no hero of mine because I have read too many things about what happened when localized slave uprisings took place and think that is just what he was after. He wanted to free slaves and had to kill the owners, he thought.

I am not proud of that part of our history and have to feel sorry for those slaves of the period but I think that all these attempts at degrading the whole white race for that localized part of our history is nothing but progressive pelosi.

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

Yeah Kuntus. You are one brilliant spook....................................NOT!!!!

KHH1

Enroll in school...minimum wage won't cut it...plus it'll change your mindset..you'll think more highly of yourself.......

jelun

You might have some points worth addressing if you put some thought into what you wanted to say first.
House slaves were treated better? You really have been brainwashed, haven't you?
A horrific life is a horrific life...wondering when the next rape is coming, or when you will be beaten because your owner prefers you to his wife.
Do you think it was an easy life to cook and garden, can and preserve, serve and cook some more, and serve some more and clean the kitchen? And then what? How about drag yourself to your shack and work on the garden there and cook and clean?

And your yank on the chain about post emancipation hardships is not worth a detailed response. Try reading.

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

Well Kuntus, maybe some day you might be able to at least get your G.E.D.

Then maybe you can get a job as a porter.......................................BOY!!!

Wolf counselor Loc: Heart of Texas

Well Kuntus. There's nothing more despicable than a homo spook.

Even worse is an uneducated, ghetto rat, homo spook.

You needs Jesus.....................BOY!!!

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

I am sorry that you haven't read the same kind of things that I did from the 50s and 60s. However, it seems that you have read only later after the left took over so many things. No sir, I don't think I can allow you to call me stupid and unread since I got all my stuff earlier. About 1970 I was at Andy Jackson's plantation and some of the stuff I talk about came from there. I guess you don't really know about the "whistling path". Right?