SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

June 13, 2018 by Betsy Bird

Trump or Not? The Presidency and Current Children’s Literature

June 13, 2018 by Betsy Bird   6 comments

I was reading the Social Justice Books post Scholastic Tells Children: Trump is Great yesterday, which makes a close and thorough examination of a new Scholastic Rookie Biography of the current sitting president. While looking at it, the piece got me to thinking about other relatively children’s books which have included Donald Trump in some way. The world of children’s literature has a tendency to include him in some form on the written page. This makes sense to me, but I have a problem. Not with these books, but with my own propensity to read too much into the children’s literature that crosses my plate. I ask myself, am I reading too much into the books coming out right now? Or are they saying exactly what it is that I think that they are saying?

Let’s start with the books that are the most obvious. During the election, the Trumpesque picture book that garnered the most attention was undoubtedly Michael Ian Black’s A Child’s First Book of Trump, which adopted a Seussian style, both in art and word, rendering the man a dumpy little orange ball of want.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ChildsFirstTrump

Lest you be mislead, it was not the only Trump-ish picture book out there, or did you miss Jamie Barrett, Pete Harvey, and Todd Eisner’s The Pumpkin and the Pantsuit?

PumpkinPantsuit

Those were the most blatant examples. On the subtle side of things, middle grade novels started to crop up with thinly veiled Trump representatives. I first noticed it when I read Laura Ruby’s incredibly fun alternate Manhattan title York: The Shadow Cipher. In it, the villain is a real estate developer who dates models.

York+The+Shadow+Cipher+by+Laura+Ruby

Susan Cooper went even further in her latest Boggart title The Boggart Fights Back. In that book the titular hero faces down a bad guy that was inspired by Scottish resistance to a trump golf course.

BoggartFights

So far, I don’t think anyone would argue that these books have nothing to do with the Donald. But then we get into other books where I wonder if I’m reading too much into the writing or if the intent was there all along. First and foremost is the most recent Newbery winner Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly. The bully in the book is a blond boy who is unnerved by strong girls and likes taking advantage of the people he views as weaker than himself. Now that could describe a whole host of bully boy characters in children’s literature throughout history. There is a part of me that wants to see this book as directly anti-Trump, but is it? Really?

HelloUniverseBack

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The same questions come up with the book I Walk With Vanessa by Kerascoët. In it, a dark-skinned girl is bullied by a blond boy. It is probably safer to say that this book and Kelly’s are influenced more by the times in which we live rather than creating a specific character based on Trump.

IWalkVanessa

As opposed to this book:

MorrisWantsMore

Yeah. That one’s pretty unavoidable. Though a British import, both PW and Kirkus mentioned the similarity to Trump in their reviews. And, of course, there was the Trump and Trump Tower cameos in the new Harry Bliss book Grace for Gus:

GraceGus

But what about books where you don’t even know if they’re political or not? For example, recently I had the pleasure of reading Jon Agee’s truly charming The Wall in the Middle of the Book the other day. You won’t find an orange caricature in this book, of course, but you will find a story about a wall, misconceptions about what lies on its other side, and seeming villains on the other side of the wall that, upon closer inspection, aren’t the dangerous threats that they seem. It would appear that in 2018 even the word “Wall” becomes political, whether its creator meant it that way or not.

WallMiddleBook

And none of this even touches on the multitude of books that encourage activism, discuss pink hats, consider the inner lives of White House bunnies, or that celebrate inclusion both metaphorically or literally. All of these are influenced by policies coming out of the White House. All of these, and so many more, are saying something pertinent about the world right here, right now. So yes, I definitely read too much into the books being published. Absolutely. But sometimes I also read exactly what it is that the creators of those books want me to read. The lines blur now more than ever.

Besides, it’s not like referencing Trump is a new game.

Even Sendak got in on it.

SendakJackGuyTrump

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Donald Trumppolitical picture books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#184)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Gerald McBoing Boing by Dr. Seuss

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Nat the Cat Takes a Nap

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Here Be Monsters: On Horror, Catharsis, and Uneasy Truces with Yourself, a guest post by author Rebecca Mahoney

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Online Zine Resources from A to Z

Everybody Loves a Winner | Top Stories on SLJ 

Truth Teller, A. S. King | The Year in SLJ Covers

Supernatural Page-Turners for 'Lockwood & Co.' Fans | Read-Alikes

SLJ's Starred Books of 2022 | The Year in SLJ Covers

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marsha Stewart says

    June 13, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    When I began reading this I immediately thought of The Sneetches. Of course, we adults are looking for allusions. You are correct. Sometimes those are there but sometimes we put them in places the allusions were never intended to be.
    Thank you for such thought provoking writing.

  2. Amy Duffy says

    June 15, 2018 at 10:04 am

    I’m not sure why the Trump cameos in Grace for Gus didn’t phase me at all, but seeing Woody Allen on the subway on one page really creeped me out. It’s such a clever book and oh so New York but…

  3. Wendy Lukehart says

    June 15, 2018 at 10:56 am

    Thank you for this thoughtful, insightful roundup, Betsy, and for all the helpful links. You have offered perspectives that are helpful to us in our work with children and as reviewers.

  4. Stephanie Calmenson says

    June 15, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    Great piece, Betsy. I love your Sendak closing. How horrified he’d be with all that’s going on.

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      June 16, 2018 at 6:28 pm

      And what fun he could have with it.

  5. Julie Horwat says

    June 23, 2018 at 11:31 am

    Thank you for such an inclusive summary and timely piece–I hadn’t heard of many of these picture books! What a great curated collection! (I would love to see one of picture books that include the pink hats!)

    On the topic of reading too much into books (which I definitely do, too!), I definitely didn’t even think of Trump with the bully character in Hello, Universe. I think he was just the stereotypical bully, and our current president has also been characterized that way, but I don’t think the book was making social commentary on the president specifically… I so enjoy your blog.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023