We are the Water Protectors is an illustrated children’s book written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. This book is 2021’s Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children. This medal is given annually by the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Media Awards (ALA, 2021). I had the pleasure of a watching a read loud with the author and illustrator for an Earth Day event on YouTube. This enabled me to see the beautiful award winning illustrations as well understand the context of the book.
This children’s book award or medal rather, came into being as many felt the illustrators of creating books deserved to be honoured and encouraged like their authors (ALA, 2021).
The activity showed me an example of the multitude of ways in which information can be communicated to young children and was definitely relevant to future professional practice. Read-aloud’s are an activity many public libraries offer. Further, I realised book awards are not really aimed at children, they are aimed at the adults responsible for children. These awards help determine which books stand out in particular fields. We are the Water Protectors, stands out as it explores the importance of environmental protection and climate justice which is of great importance now more than ever. As Lindstrom (2020) states during the read aloud, “we cannot drink oil.”
Children’s book awards are more than just a way of acknowledging authors and illustrators. Book awards are a practical method of promoting and marketing books too (Hannabus, 1998). Book awards enable people such as librarians, or teachers or parents/caregivers to exercise judgement on what children read and why (Hannabus, 1998). While these are positive aspects of children’s book awards, there are a surprising number of negatives associated with children’s book awards.
Authors and illustrators have called into question aspects of book awards, such as criteria, the selection process, and jury members (Bittner & Superle, p.74). More disturbing, are authors who have challenged the lack of diversity that exists in the lists of nominated books and authors. Additionally, a more problematic theme has emerged regarding book awards and diversity. Authors of colour who have won have books that fall into the category of “issue” books (Tripp, 2020). These books predominantly feature personal or social issues (Tripp, 2020). This picture book is no different, We Are Water Protectors, the author and illustrator are Native American women drawing attention to their plight against the Dakota pipeline, as well as highlighting the importance of water as a resource in general for all people.
Just to provide some background on the book, in America, the Dakota Access Pipeline (or DAPL) project would connect the Bakken oil fields in the state of North Dakota to refineries to another state in central Illinois (Proulx & Crane, 2019). The Native Americans (and many others) oppose the pipeline as it is a threat to drinking water safety for the tribal community living downstream from the pipeline, especially in the event of an oil leak (Proulx & Crane, 2019). Construction of this pipeline has already destroyed indigenous land, and members of the tribal community have endured much violence (Whyte, 2016). These elements are depicted throughout the book, somehow, beautifully illustrated despite how tragic and damaging these events are.
Children’s book awards are considered to be important due to their influence on publishers, using the examples of Phillip Pullman and JK Rowling, Tripp (2020) adds book awards increased the book sales for both these authors. I hope the same is true for this book, as the issue in the book is of great importance. Upon reading of the negative side of these awards, I could not help but wonder, if the book were simply about water protection, without the context of the DAPL would it have garnered the same amount of attention?
References:
American Library Association. (2021, April 12). Randolph Caldecott Medal. Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecott
Hannabuss, S. (1998). Children’s Book Prizes:98379Ruth Allen. Children’s Book Prizes: An Evaluation and History of Major Awards for Children’s Books in the English‐Speaking World. Aldershot: Ashgate 1998. xi + 333 pp, ISBN: 1 85928 237 7 £49.50. Reference Reviews, 12(7), 24–25. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.1998.12.7.24.379
Proulx, G., & Crane, N. J. (2019). “To see things in an objective light”: the Dakota Access Pipeline and the ongoing construction of settler colonial landscapes. Journal of Cultural Geography, 37(1), 46–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2019.1665856
Tripp, R. (2020). “Insufficient Degrees of Representation”: Examining Racial Diversity and Book Prizes in UK Children’s Publishing. The Lion and the Unicorn, 44(2), 136–152. https://doi.org/10.1353/uni.2020.0014
Whyte, K. P. (2016, September 16). Why the Native American pipeline resistance in North Dakota is about climate justice. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-the-native-american-pipeline-resistance-in-north-dakota-is-about-climate-justice-64714
Hi Akansha,
Thank you for your post! You make a very good point about book awards not being aimed at children, but instead at the parents, guardians, teachers and libraries who make the purchasing decisions. The prevalence of “issue” books is also concerning – if minority stories are pigeonholed into these categories, such that the only Black stories that children read are about Black struggles of police brutality or poverty, then it is not a true form of diversity. As McKinney (2020) argues, issues are incredibly important and do need to be told, but “Black readers need to see themselves in narratives outside of racism, slavery, Jim Crow, police brutality”. I had felt optimistic when I saw that four out of five Caldecott books from the past year featured non-white characters, but looking more closely, aside from the aforementioned We Are Water Protectors (Lindstrom, 2020), the honour books A Place Inside of Me (Elliott, 2020) and The Cat Man of Aleppo (Latham & Shamsi-Basha, 2020) also appear to be “issue” books. It is clear that there is a long way to go before children’s book awards are truly diverse.
Association for Library Service to Children. (n.d.). Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938 to present. http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecott-medal-honors-to-presentNEW.pdf
Cabrera, C. A. (2020). Me & mama (C. A. Cabrera, Illus.). Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Cockcroft, M. (2018, February 10). Caldecott and Newbery Medal wins bring instant boost to book sales. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=caldecott-newbery-medals-translate-bigger-short-term-sales
Elliott, Z. (2020). A place inside of me: A poem to heal the heart (N. Denmon, Illus.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers.
Latham, I., & Shamsi-Basha, K. (2020). The cat man of Aleppo (Y. Shimizu, Illus.). G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Lindstrom, C. (2020). We are water protectors (M. Goade, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press.
McKinney, L.L. (2020, June 17). The role publishing plays in the commodification of Black pain. Tor. https://www.tor.com/2020/06/17/the-role-publishing-plays-in-the-commodification-of-black-pain/
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! I have such internal torment about “issue” books. I understand why they are needed of course, and hope they are receiving attention/awards because they are also goods books. And thank you for sharing those resources, the Mckinney article was very insightful.