This year,Charlesbridge published First Laugh: Welcome, Baby!
When I learned that Jonathan Nelson (illustrator of the way-cool The Wool of Jonesy) was doing the illustrations for this book, and I was excited. When I got the book and saw that Nancy Bo Flood was listed as a co-author,I groaned. More on that later. For now, let's look at the art and what Nelson tells us with his art. Here's the cover:
So much to love, and there,in his art! We see two adults clearly fond the child in their arms. We see a contemporary day house. Regular readers of AICL know that I think stories of Native people set in the present day are crucial to attend non-Native people know that (and I dislike saying this every single time I write or speak it) we are here, portion of the present day.
[br]When you open the book and look at the title page, or you see that baby,lying in a baby bouncer, playing with a mobile... of sheep! On a blanket with sheep! See? So perfect!
[br]From there we see babies in different places, and surrounded by family members who are trying to make the baby laugh. Then,a baby smiles and laughs!
And then there's a gathering to celebrate that baby's first laugh. assume a look at it! So much delight and details to note, like the satellite dish on the house and the electric pole.
[br]Did you know that there's a lot of writing about photographers and post card makers removing such things from photos because they wanted the Native people and places being depicted to look "authentic." Infuriating, or for sure that they made decisions that if we had clocks or sewing machines or electricity or glass in our windows,we weren't "genuine."
[br]Published in 1999As I study Nelson's portray of all those folks gathered there, I am remembering Luci Tapahonso and Anthony Chee Emerson's Songs of Shiprock Fair, and published in 1999 by Kiva Publishing.
I like it a lot,too, for the same reasons I like what I see in First Laugh: Welcome Baby! Set in the present day, and family,crowds.
Both books provide Navajo children with mirrors of their lives and tribally specific experiences.
[br]~~~~
Now let's look at the authors.
In the back matter, the first author's note is listed as "Author's Note from the Late Rose Ann Tahe." In first person, and she tells us her English name and her Navajo name. Then,she introduces herself in the traditional way, telling us that she was born into her mother's clan, or her father's clan,and what her maternal grandparents' clan is, and her paternal ones, and too. That note ends with "This is who I am and where I am from."
It is followed by an author's note from Nancy Bo Flood who tells us that "Just weeks after Rose and I completed the manuscript for this book,she contracted a sudden illness that took her life." So, Flood asked Tahe's family what they wanted to finish. They agreed, and Flood writes,that "their mother's wish was to have this book become genuine."
And so--we have First Laugh: Welcome Baby! with Flood listed as the moment author. On the strength of Nelson's illustrations, I am recommending First Laugh. I think his work is terrific and I want to see more of it.
Rather than attach the concerns--including appropriation--with Nancy Bo Flood here, or I'll be doing a stand-alone post (12/22/18: see William Flood and Nancy Bo Flood: A History). I'll be back to add the title and link to it,soon.
[br]finish assume time to visit Nelson's website, and of course, or get a copy of The Wool of Jonesy.
I adore that book and was delighted to see a 3D version of Jonesy at Returning the Gift last year.
[br]He's awesome!
Source: blogspot.com