Conflicting Inclinations: Luis J. Rodríguez’s Picture Books for Children

Abstract

The failure of books for children to reflect and address the experiences of Chicana/o children prompted Chicana/o authors in the 1960s and 1970s to start writing their own books for young people. As Gerald Resendez points out, prior to the emergence of these books, the texts that could be found in American schools and libraries—for example, Leo Politi’s Juanita (1946) and Maurine Gee’s Chicano, Amigo (1972)—did nothing more than ‘[perpetuate] stereotypes, … [enable] a negative selfimage of [Chicana/o] children, [and foster] a serious misunderstanding of the Chicano and [Chicana] culture” (108). Frustrated with the racism and various distortions that inhered in American children’s literature, Nephtale Leon, Ernesto Galarza, Alonso Perales, Alurista, and others began penning picture books, short stories, and poetry collections—oftentimes exclusively in Spanish—that embodied the values of educational advancement and cultural validation. As Resendez stresses, these authors’ overarching objective was “to express the unique experience of the Chicano child, to deal with reality rather than with the exotic, romantic, and unreal, and to capture the flavor and soul of what it is to be Chicano” (109). Notably, in several cases an investment in “deal[ing] with reality” compelled authors to depict the racism, poverty, and other hardships that they could see devastating too many Chicana/o children’s lives.

Today’s world of die child demands a new literature, for the literature of the past does not meet their needs.

Gerald A. Reséndez, “;Chicano Children’;s Literature”; (109)

Today’s students of children’s literature are living in an interesting era of book publishing for children. They may analyze new books of contemporary realistic fiction and contemplate the different directions that authors can choose to pursue.

Donna E. Norton, Through the Eyes of a Child (369)