It may be somewhat helpful in an ongoing discussion with your child about rioting and racism, but it's not a stand alone or even a starting point. But it's a shame that even then it's not an effective story. We certainly can't discount this one entirely because it's unique.
On this count Smoky Night fails as historical fiction, especially for most young readers today who will likely have never heard of the LA riots. Part of that is understanding not just that rioting sometimes happens, but why it happens. But it's crucial that they do their job well. In the wake of recent events like the rioting in Ferguson and Baltimore, books like this are important. To give credit where it's due, Bunting's book did pave the way for more serious literature for children. It was a controversial win, for many of the reasons mentioned above. Half papercut, half found object photographs, the innovation won him the 1995 Caldecott medal. Yet once the cats make friends the neighbors "learn their lesson" and tensions between them evaporate.ĭiaz's chaotic illustrations are certainly evocative, but not particularly pleasing to the eye. The mother of the main character is explicity racist towards the Korean neighbor. The main subplot of the story involves the sparring cats of two neighbors, one Korean and the other black. Her shallow approach to racism is another problem. But refusing to even acknowledge it diminishes the issue at hand, and the book's value as historical fiction.
Should a picture book run through the entire context surrounding the Rodney King beating and resulting riots? Not necessarily. Bunting may have been attempting a universal look into rioting, but this simplistic explanation is insulting to children. Oddly, the city, time, and place are never mentioned, nor is the reason for the riots. They forget what's right and what's wrong." When he asks why they're rioting he is merely told that sometimes people "get angry. The main character watches from his window as rioters loot and burn in the street below him. But that's not something you would know from the context of the story itself. Unfortunately, it has multiple problems.Įve Bunting's story is a child's eye view of the 1992 LA riots. You'll almost never find, for example, a children's picture book that deals with rioting. Generally speaking, children's picture books tend to avoid heavy subject matter.
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