Daniel Vandever
is writing children's books Native kids can see themselves in
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First-time
Navajo author Daniel Vandever reads his book to a group
of children August 10 at the Child Care Center at Navajo
Technical University. (photo by Alysa Landry)
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In picture books for children, talking bears outnumber Native
Americans nine to one. According to data from the Cooperative
Children's Book Center, a research library based at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison that gathers information on children's and
young adult literature, major U.S. and Canadian presses in 2016
published a total of 3,400 children's books. Of those, only 35 were
about Natives, or 1 percent.
In an analysis of picture books only, that number shrinks to
.3 percent, or three out of 1,030. That's fewer books depicting
Native Americans than those featuring talking bears (27), talking
dinosaurs (15), talking penguins (six) and talking robots (four).
"It's not just animals, but also talking trucks and talking
trains," said K.T. Horning, director of the Cooperative Children's
Book Center, which annually collects and publishes data about the
subjects of children's books and authors' ethnicity. "Last year
there was a book about a talking carton of milk, a book about the
letter E. There are more books about talking or personified objects
than there are about Native people."
Even fewer children's books are written by authors of color.
Of the 35 books about Natives published in 2016, only eight were
authored
by Natives, or .002 percent of the total.
By contrast, more than 70 percent of children's books published
by major presses are written by white authors and depict white characters.
That means most Native children are learning to read with books
that do not portray Native charactersor even other people
of color.
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This
graphic shows how little representation minorities, especially
Native Americans get in children's books. (courtesy Cooperative
Children's Book Center)
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It's an oversight that can cause children to shun books or even
question their own identities, said Debbie
Reese, founder of American
Indians in Children's Literature, a blog that analyzes and critiques
Indigenous Peoples in children's books and young adult books.
"What you see in books matters," said Reese, a member of the
Nambe Pueblo. "If you like reading and you see yourself in books,
you know that you matter. On the flip side, if you never see yourself
in books, or if you see negative stereotypes of yourself, you disengage
because it's not meeting your needs."
Navajo author Daniel Vandever, of Haystack, New Mexico, arrived
at the same conclusions before writing and illustrating his first
book, "Fall in Line, Holden!" published this year by Salina
Bookshelf. The book follows Holden, a young Navajo boy, through
a day at boarding
school where he expected to conform to rigid behaviors, stay
inside the lines and follow the rules.
But Holden, who is constantly reminded to "fall in line," can't
stop his imagination from transforming his bleak environment into
one filled with wonder. As he progresses through the school day,
Holden's carefree spirit begins to influence the other students.
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Daniel
Vandever reads his book "Fall in Line, Holden!" (photo by
Alysa Landry)
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Vandever, 30, said he wanted to write a book for his nephew
that accurately portrayed Navajo characters and told a story rooted
in history. He spent six years writing and illustrating the book,
which depicts Holden sporting a tsiiyéé (traditional
hair bun), but dressed in modern attire and having very contemporary
daydreams.
"All of this started with me wanting to tell a story for my
nephew," Vandever said. "I think every kid deserves something they
can identify with, something to relate to. Every kid should be able
to see themselves in a book."
Vandever is the grandson of Navajo Code Talker Joe Vandever
Sr. His father attended boarding schools on the Navajo
Nation, where he was stripped of his language and culture.
"By writing about boarding schools, I'm telling my father's
story," Vandever said. "But it's also the story of an entire generation,
and my family was impacted by it. I think it's crucial to start
conversations about what happened."
After his parents split up, Vandever moved with his mother to
St. Louis, Missouri. There, he came face to face with Indian
stereotypeseven in the classroom, he said.
"As a second-grader in Missouri, I really saw a lot of false
representations of who I was supposed to be," he said. "So I shielded
my identity, stifled my creativity, and this led to inner conflict.
It really limited how I saw myself."
Vandever found sanctuary in the library, where he immersed himself
in Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. He also sang traditional Navajo
songs and repeated stories from his grandparents.
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Daniel Vandever reads his book "Fall in Line, Holden!" to
a group of children on August 10. (photo by Alysa Landry)
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After earning a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University
of Missouri, Vandever made his way back to the Navajo Nation. He
earned a master's degree in community and regional planning and
works as communications director for Navajo
Technical University.
But Vandever never let go of his imagination, or his love of
children's literature. When he began writing "Fall in Line, Holden!"
he hoped it would appeal to both children and adults.
"I wanted my nephew to understand the value of creativity and
free-thinking," he said. "But children's books are for everyone,
and they can be just as impactful as other books, and even more
intimate. Even in their simplicity, children's books can bring everyone
to the table for some kind of discussion or understanding."
Vandever's book offers an authentic Native voice in an industry
where the quantity of books about Native Americans is low and the
quality is, perhaps, even lower, Horning said. The Cooperative Children's
Book Center, which began counting children's books about Africans
in 1985, added three more minority groups in 1994: Asian, Latino
and Native.
Historically, the center has found that books written about
Native Americans by non-Native authors were problematic, Horning
said. Books commonly revealed an ignorance of separate Native nations
and often perpetuated erroneous stereotypes.
"When we look at our numbers over time, the books by Native
authors and illustrators have always been a relatively small
number," she said. "I can't tell you how many aspiring authors are
still writing about a 'little Indian girl.'"
Although the number of books by Native authors still is low,
the quality is gradually improving, Horning said. Books like Vandever's,
which offer "authentic voices from different Native nations," are
helping shift the tide.
"Daniel is so important in the overall context of children's
books," she said. "In this book, Native children can see themselves,
and children from the outside can get a more realistic picture of
what life is like."
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Children stand in line as Daniel Vandever autographs his first
book, "Fall in Line, Holden!" after a reading at Navajo Technical
University. (photo by Alysa Landry)
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The Cooperative Children's Book Center counts books from major
commercial publishers, where most of the problematic books originate.
It doesn't regularly receive books from small, independent or tribal
presses.
Small presses are much better at producing quality books about
Native Americans, Reese said. Because small publishers they lack
funding and publicity, however, those books don't often appear in
libraries or schools where they would have the biggest impact.
"The big presses are still publishing books of questionable
quality that are biased and stereotypical," Reese said. "We're still
getting problematic books every year, published by big publishers
and written by privileged authors who don't know what they're talking
about."
By contrast, good books by Native authors can help "unwrite
myths," Reese said. She reviewed Vandever's book on her blog and
said its "Native accuracy" made her heart swell.
"If you're going to see Natives in a book, they'll be wearing
feathers and skins and fringe," she said. "In Daniel's book, we
get realistic stuff, but we also get playful. He talks about school
being rigid, and then he blows it out of the water. He talks about
falling in line, but he steps way out of the lines in his book.
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