BookGate! - Arnold Reser till SydAfrika
This week was quite the eventful one for us in Sweden as we experienced a rather interesting bookgate around a children’s book title Arnold Reser till SydAfrika by Margaux Dietz.
Imagine a an adorable picture book with bright colorful illustrations about a little black south African boy who takes a trip to Sweden. On his trip he meets deer, moose, wild boar and lots of wonderful wintery forest animals. In the book we see our little boy and his family who are also black south african sharing this adventure together. This is NOT the book Margaux wrote. The book I just described would offer a perspective that you rarely find on the book shelves, a book I would write but I can already imagine the comments!
The picture book Margaux did write, is one which can be seen as a pretty normal story about a little boy, Arnold (inspired by her son) who takes a trip to South Africa from Sweden. In South Africa he meets a symphony of lovely jungle animals. The illustrations are adorable and the little toddler himself is charming. The book is easy to read and I can see why it was nominated for the Adlibris Prize: Adlibris Priset Årets barnbok 0-6 år.
Arnold is depicted as white in the book, so is his mom and his family members. There isn’t a single other non white person in the book. Particularly as the book is inspired but the authors son and actual travels.
Up to this point nothing is unusual. There are literally thousands of books depicting Africa, that are full of jungles or animals or all white characters. I would even say that this is the norm.
What is unusual is that this book written by Margaux sparked outrage.
I have been watching the comments and reactions online these past few days and people are angry.
There are comments on her page, asking readers to boycott the book, writing personally to her and the publisher.
There is a movement, an energy around this outrage which I recognize as being sharper post-BLM.
Perhaps this is one of the after-effects, or we have simply gone past a corner and we will not be turning back anymore.
Generally we are saying
We will not have it anymore.
Given the stereotypes about Africa,
Given good story telling
Given the nuances and perspectives within story telling
Margaux’s book had the opportunity to introduce its tiny readers to South Africa going beyond lions, elephants and zebras..
Arnold could have met a neighbor friend to discover the animals with.
He could have met a tour guide, a fruit seller..
This is story telling, the imaginary and fact can meet and blend.. the options are endless.
As an African parent and story-teller I am TIRED of the Africa and Animals stereotype.
We have animals yes, and much much more. Most Africans who cant afford a safari (and most don’t) will never see the big 5, the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, African buffalo and Zebra, Antelop etc etc.
But also, we are much more than this one facade that keeps being regurgitated at us again and again.
There is a reason that the We Need Diverse book Movement has taken off globally since 2015.
It is time to offer stories that are reflect the people within their context .
Stories that offer multiple dimensions of experiences.
In my first book, the two characters Ella and Louis visit the Gambia and taste some fruit that are local to the region. These fruit will often be completely unknown to the reader and isn’t that just a delight! That children will get to discover, through the pages of books and imagine beyond what they know. Isn’t that the magic that reading offers?
Ella and Louis would love to meet Arnold perhaps take another trip to South Africa, visit the cities, taste some fruit, splash in some muggy puddles, discover the landscape…what an adventure it could be!
Images that show the characters depicted in the book Arnold Reser till SydAfrika. The Grandpa, Grandma, Arnold, his mum and the ‘driver’.
