Fiction, Fantasy, and Ethnic Realities

I have yet to see a children's book which is not without a message (nor a big people's book, for that matter). The charge of didacticism has frequently been one means of dismissing entirely the books for adults which espouse a cause, dictate morality, or in explicit ways attempt to influence opinion. But with children's books didacticism is apparently not a factor which ostensibly determines the quality of the work. If it is accepted that children's books are by virtue of their character didactic, then it would seem to me that we should pay very close attention to their messages, for the argument which holds that the quality of a work inheres elsewhere than in its content will hardly allow us to deal with children's books except in a surface way. Some might argue that a book can be good no matter what its message, but I could not imagine that anyone would make that argument for children's literature. Clearly some messages are better than others.

Of the dozen books to be discussed here Nicholasa Mohr's Nilda is the most significant. It describes the life of Nilda Ramirez from her tenth to her fourteenth year as she grows up in Spanish Harlem. The author's view is an insider's view and is to be distinguished from views which might not be so intimately informed about the subtle meanings of the experiences narrated. But more importantly the author has such a good grasp of the social dynamics involved in her tale that it tells not only a story which in many ways typifies the life of the poor in Spanish Harlem, but it describes as well the plight of the urban poor everywhere. It recognizes the role institutions play in sustaining poverty, and it shows the extraordinary difficulty of breaking out, even for the strongest, most sensitive, and most intelligent. There is no pity here, for the author is too much aware of the humanity of her characters and of the other implications of pity to be in any way condescending. There is insider's humor, gentle, and in no way degrading. (An example is the scene in which the aged aunt summons the police because the grocery owner will not take her numbers bet.) All in all Nilda is what I would call a significant book, a touchstone by which others may be judged.

The titular characters of Louise Tanner's Reggie and Nilma are a black housekeeper and her son. On the second page of the book a certain event is described as being "before the time when everyone modeling a sweater or using a mouthwash was black." Prior to this the narrator says, "Nilma was my colored nurse—I know you mustn't say it that way now, but that is what she was..." Since the author is apparently unaware of the negative implications of these statements, we might expect to find other evidence of lack of understanding on her part, and we are not entirely disappointed. The author's problem is that she interprets the events of the narrative in a wholly personal way, not realizing that there is far more at stake in the experience described than her personal loss when her relation deteriorates with Reggie. The author expresses a sense of guilt and even responsibility because of the impingement...