>Bring back Louis Darling!

by Roger Sutton
Jul 21, 2010 | Filed in Articles & Opinion
>
Some on the ALSC listserv are complaining that a new ALA poster lacks ethnic diversity. (If you squint you can see two kids of color in the background.) But the poster is based on Beverly Cleary's major characters (white people all, yes?) as seen in their latest editions, illustrated by Tracy Dockray. As black-and-white illustrations within the books, Dockray's drawings are serviceable but bland; on this poster they look generic and thus, I think, the complaints. Dockray's illustrations have not taken enough hold that people look at this poster and think, "ah, Ramona!" They just see (mostly) white people, so the slogan "Libraries are for everyone!" seems a little optimistic.
Roger Sutton
Roger Sutton

Editor Emeritus Roger Sutton was editor in chief of The Horn Book, Inc., from 1996-2021. He was previously editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and a children's and young adult librarian. He received his MA in library science from the University of Chicago in 1982 and a BA from Pitzer College in 1978.

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Erin

>I am sorry if this question is a little off the main topic of the ALA poster, but could someone please tell me what illustrator did the covers for the Ramona stories from the Dell Yearling books?

The image of her face on "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" has always stayed with me.

Posted : Jul 23, 2010 09:45

Beth

>I don't mind his illustrations of Ramona, but this does not work as an ALA poster. Thank you for pointing out that the glaringly all white-cast does not match the slogan "Libraries are for Everyone". I thought I was the only one who noticed...

Posted : Jul 23, 2010 04:52

Erin

>What I meant was that by mentioning Beezus last, I thought the story was going to focus on her (meaning Selena Gomez), and give the audience her POV throughout the movie, when the real star of the books was always Ramona. Even in the book "Beezus and Ramona" (which the movie is not based on, though I mistakenly thought it was at first) which is told from Beezus' POV, Ramona is the center of the story from the very first sentence.

I should have explained better, so my apologies.

Posted : Jul 22, 2010 02:14

Roger Sutton

>Anamaria, yes, it seems to me like each generation of illustrations for the Ramona books has gotten less distinctive, but maybe it's more about what you grew up with.

Iconoclast, I'm reminded of the billing for George Clooney's Ocean's Eleven, where the last credit was "and introducing Julia Roberts."

Posted : Jul 22, 2010 01:17

iconoclast

>I think they just changed the title because, um, the movie isn't based on the book Beezus and Ramona. Anyway, genuinely puzzled: how does changing the order of the names highlight the actress playing Beezus?

Posted : Jul 22, 2010 02:07

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