Timeline: Foul Among the Good

The Foul Among the Good is a phrase coined by Creek author Durango Mendoza to describe what children and their families will come across in some children's books. I use his phrase with permission to describe how it feels to them, to be having a warm experience and then suddenly, turn a page and find a stereotyped image of what the book creator believes to be an American Indian.

Does the foul image matter? Yes. Research studies show that stereotypical mascot images have a negative impact on Native children. Do a search on Indian mascots and you'll see similarities in them and the images in this Foul Among the Good gallery. Now consider this: Native children drop out of school at astonishing rates. Researchers cite a lack of engagement from them. Would you engage if you saw this sort of thing, year after year, in your classrooms?

The gallery is arranged chronically. Some of the images depict Native people in grotesque and savage ways; some depict Native people in romantic and noble ways. Some mock Native people in cartoonish ways, while others objectify Native people (as in "I is for Indian"). Beneath each image is the title, author, illustrator, publisher, year of publication, and date it was added to the gallery. It is a work in progress. 

I welcome your assistance in building this archive of foul among the good. Please submit scans or photographs to me at dreese.nambe@gmail.com. If you wish, I will credit you with submitting the image. Uncredited images are ones I (Debbie Reese) scanned.


1658

Orbis Pictus (Visible World) by Johannes Amos Comenius
published in 1658
Date added to gallery: 6/2/2014


1839

Aventures de Robert-Robert et de son fidéle compagnon Toussaint Lavenette
by Louis Desnoyer, illustration by Frédéric de Courcy
Published in 1839 in Paris by Garnier Freres

1847

The Tales of Peter Parley, About America
published by Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co. in 1847
Date added to gallery: June 13, 2014 



1909

A Child's Garden of Versus
Written by Robert Louis Stevenson, illus by Charles Robinson
published by London J. Lane in 1909
Date added to gallery: June 9, 2016



1907
The Teddy Bear ABC
Written by Laura Rinkle Johnson
Illusrated by Margaret Landers Sanford
first published in 1907 by H.M.Caldwell Co.
Date added to gallery: May 12, 2022


1911

Two Little Savages by Ernest Thompson Seton
published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1911
Date added to gallery: June 13, 2014

1941

The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds,
published by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1941.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013



A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson,
illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen.
Published in 1951 by Golden Press.
Date added to gallery: 4/27/2016

1951

Bugs Bunny and the Indians,
published by Little Golden Books in 1951
Date added to gallery: 2/16/2015



Little Leo,
published in 1951 by Scribner
Date added to gallery: 7/25/2021


1958

Danny and the Dinosaur, by Syd Hoff,
published by Harper in 1958.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013


1959

Color ABC, by Nancy Larrick, illustrated by Rene Martin,
published by Platt & Munk Co., Inc., in 1959.
(In contrast, B is for bluejay)
Image courtesy of Nancy Tolson.
Date added to gallery: 2/21/2013.



1960

Christmas Eve at the Mellops, by Tomi Ungerer,
published by Harper. 

1962

Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak,
published by Harper & Row in 1962.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013


1962


Little Runner of the Longhouse
by Betty Baker, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, 
published by Harper & Row in 1962; 
published in German in 1968; in Afrikaans and Danish in 1970, 
and republished in 1990 by HarperCollins. 
Date added to gallery: 2/14/2019


Let's Be Indians
by Peggy Parish, drawings by Arnold Lobel,
published by Harper & Row in 1962.
Date added to gallery: July 31, 2023

1964

Red Fox and His Canoe, written by Nathaniel Benchley,
illustrated by Arnold Lobel, published by Harper & Row in 1964.
Date added to gallery: 4/3/2015
Image courtesy of Leigh Woznick

1967

Clifford's Halloween, by Norman Bridwell
published by Four Winds Press in 1967.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1967


Little Bear's Thanksgiving
by Janice Brustlein, illustrated by Marian Curtis Fosster
Published by William Morrow & Co
Date added to gallery: 5/12/2022


1970

The Nose Book, by Al Perkins,
published by Random House in 1970.
Date added to gallery: 2/12/2013
Image courtesy of Gina Boldman,
Eastern Michigan University

1973


Find Your ABC's, by Richard Scarry, 
published by Random House in 1973.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1973

George and Martha, Encore by James Marshall, 
published in 1973 by Houghton Mifflin.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1973

Please and Thank You, by Richard Scarry, 
published by Random House in 1973.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1974

The Stupids Step Out, by James Allard, illustrated by James Marshall,
published by Houghton Mifflin in 1974.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1978

The Stupids Have A Ball, by James Allard, illustrated by James Marshall,
published by Houghton Mifflin in 1978.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1978

Worse than Rotten, Ralph, by Jack Gantos, illustrated by Nicole Rubel
published by Houghton Mifflin in 1978.
Date added to gallery: 2/14/2013

1980

Mouse Days: A Book of Seasons, by Leo Lionni
published by Random House in 1981
Date added to gallery: 7/24/2018

1982

Berenstain Bears Go To Camp, by Stan Berenstain,
published by Random House in 1982.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1987

Where's Waldo 
by Martin Hanford
Published by Walker Books, 1987
Date added to gallery: May 29, 2014
Contributed by Sharon H. Chang

1988

Little Critter's The Trip
by Mercer Mayer
published in 1988 by Golden Books
republished in 1909 by Inchworm Press
Added to gallery on July 25, 2021

1991

Amazing Grace 
by Mary Hoffman, illustrations by Caroline Binch,
published by Dial Books for Young Readers, in 1991.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1991

Just Me and My Little Brother
by Mercer Mayer
published in 1991 by Golden Books;
republished in 2006 by Random House
Added to gallery on July 25, 2021

1996

My Very First Mother Goose 
by Rosemary Wells,
published by Candlewick in 1996.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

1999

Thanksgiving Day 
by Anne Rockwell, illustrations by Lizzy Rockwell,
published by HarperCollins in 1999.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

2006

Illinois Fighting Illini 123: My First Counting Book
by Brad Epstein
published by Michaelson Entertainment
Date added to gallery: 5/12/2022

2010

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and other Man-Made Catastrophes 
by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, 
published by Schwartz & Wade Books in 2010.
Date added to gallery: 2/10/2013

2011

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever
by Jeff Kinney
Published by Amulet Books in 2011
Translated into Korean in 2017, German in 2016, 
Hebrew and Portuguese in 2012
Date added to gallery: July 25, 2021

2015

Winnie and Waldorf
Written and illustrated by Kati Hite,
published in 2015 by HarperCollins.
Date added to gallery: 4/3/2015

2015

Popcorn
Frank Asch
published in 1979 by Parents Magazine Press
 and in 2015 by Aladdin/Simon and Schuster
Date added to gallery: 7/24/2015

2016

Normal Norman
Tara Lazar, illus by S. britt
published in 2016 by Sterling Children's Books
Date added to gallery: 6/9/16

2016


The Wolves of Currumpaw
William Grill
published in 2016 by Flying Eye Books
Date added to gallery: 6/9/16



2021

Peter Pan
J. M. Barrie
published in 2021 by Ladybird Readers
Date added to gallery: 6/19/21





4 comments:

Elizabeth Gross said...

These are pretty unbelievable in their insensitivity.

Dana W. Marniche said...

I need to be told how some of these are objectifying. Are native americans not to be mentioned in children's literature. Children pretend to be pilgrims and first Americans because they learn about them in early primary education - and that is where "Indians" are really being objectified.

Kanumommy said...

Wow....these are all so stereotypical. Still today? And people and animals playing " dress up" with sacred or important native regalia. Why are natives treated this way? What if I did a children's book where pigs were dressed up as Popes and Ayatollahs and the children were encouraged to role-play " African-Americans"! How would that go over? How hard is it to write a non-stereotypical book that gives actual information on specific tribes and trivializes no one? Either do a good educational job on every ethnicity or don't do it at all. There is enough garbage out there.

Anonymous said...

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman 1991, often a teacher favorite