This month, Scholastic published a book called A Birthday Cake for George Washington. Shortly after it was published, Scholastic released a statement stating that it was decided that they would be pulling it from distribution.
This was a pretty unprecedented move, but the controversy surrounding A Birthday Cake for George Washington, regardless of Scholastic's decision to pull the book, addresses the important issues about the way slavery is portrayed in children's books as well as important issues that deal with diversity in children's books.
Below are the posts I found to be worthwhile reads over the past few weeks.
January 4
Smiling Slaves in a post Fine Dessert World, Kirkus
January 6
Andrea Pinkney wrote about the book before it was released in the post, A Proud Slice of History.
January 6
And Debbie Reese addressed the issues in the book before it's release in her post, What Will They Say?
On January 15 Scholastic responded to the feedback it was getting about the book.
On the same day, January 15 Teaching for Change posted a review, Not Recommended: A Birthday Cake for George Washington
On January 16, Children's Book Causes a Stir for Inaccurate Depiction of Slavery.
And on January 17 the issue was discussed on ABC News.
January 17
Recalled
Recalled
Amid Controversy Scholastic Pulls Book About Washington's Slave.
January 18
Smiling Slaves at Storytime
January 18
Hornbook: A Bumpy Ride (This one is an interesting read and the comments are also worth the read, whether you agree with them or not.)
January 19
Megan at Reading While White: No Text is Sacred
A post from the author of George Washington's Birthday Cake updated on January 19
On January 20, award-winning author, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley weighed in on the discussion.
On January 22, the National Coalition Against Censorship issued a statement about Scholastic's decision.
On January 23, Daniel Jose Older tweeted his response to the statements made relating to censorship. These are collected in a Storify: On Censorship and Slavery.
This has all given me a great deal to think about. Two other pieces that I have revisited but that are not directly related to the Birthday Cake for George Washington issue are:
This amazing TED talk, The Danger of a Single Story
And this response to the reaction to the diversity in this year's award books. January 17, Not Mutually Exclusive
Lots to think about and lots of change that needs to happen.
Lots to think about and lots of change that needs to happen.
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