In 1657, John Amos Comenius wrote and illustrated Orbis Pictus, an encyclopedic picture book for children that is now commonly recognized as the first picture book for children. In honor of Comenius, the National Council of Teachers of English established a nonfiction book award and named it the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. Comenius included Indians in the book in the section about religion, where he wrote:
The Indians, 10. even at this day, worship the Devil, 11.
Here's the illustration. The Indian and Devil are on the right. The Indian is kneeling. To, as Comenius said, "worship the Devil."
I don't mean to suggest that NCTE ought not to have named the award after the book, but I do wish that writers, illustrators, reviews, publishers, teachers, and librarians would be more thoughtful about misrepresentations in things they write, illustrate, publish, teach, and share today. You can't, of course, misrepresent what people like Comenius think, but you can present their thoughts in a way that points out the err of that thinking.
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