The Sign of the Beaver
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Sign of the Beaver. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1983.
Marcy and Jennie discuss 1984 Newbery Honor book Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, the relative merits of cornbread toppings, and the conflicts of Native American representation in children’s literature.
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To read the full transcript of this episode, click here: {transcript to come}
— TRANSCRIPT GOES HERE —
Our snack for this episode is Johnnycakes; click here for the recipe.
Johnnycakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup white cornmeal
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- Bacon drippings
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, place cornmeal and salt.
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring water to a rapid boil; remove from heat. With the saucepan in one hand, let the boiling water dribble onto the cornmeal while stirring constantly with the other hand. Then stir the milk into the mixture (it will be fairly thick, but not runny).
- Generously grease a large, heavy frying pan (I like to use my cast-iron frying pan) with the bacon drippings and heat. When pan is hot, drop the batter by spoonfuls. Flatten the batter with a spatula to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Fry until golden brown, turn, and brown on the other side (adding more bacon drippings as needed).
- Serve hot with butter, maple syrup, or applesauce.
- Makes 4 servings.
Johnnycakes History & Recipe:
https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Johnnycakes.htm
Show Notes
Our show notes include information on, and links to, all the random references and recommended reading mentioned in the episode.
The Sign of the Beaver Awards
1983 – Bank Street College of Education’s Josette Frank Award
1984 – Newbery Honor Book
1984 – ALA Notable Books for Children
1984 – The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Elizabeth George Speare’s Obituary
Elizabeth George Speare’s Wikipedia Entry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_George_Speare
Readalikes
Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Kevin Lain, 1987.
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Bronze Bow. Houghton Mifflin, 1961
—. Calico Captive. Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
—. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Houghton Mifflin,1958.
Readbetter
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Jingle Dancer. Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. HarperCollins, 2000.
Resources
Association for Library Service to Children. The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to Medal and Honor Books. American Library Association, 2009.
Bank Street College of Education’s Josetta Frank Award
In order cheap viagra nichestlouis.com this time, several procedures of pregnancy recommendation are obtainable from each of our entry tips similar to Quantitative serum HCG screening.https://www.bankstreet.edu/center-childrens-literature/childrens-book-committee/awards/
Database of Award Winning Children’s Books
Fritz, Jean. Review of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. New York Times, 8 May 1983, BR37.
Howell, Margaret C. Review of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. School Library Journal, April 1983, p.118-119.
Kingman, Lee. Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books 1976-1985. The Horn Book, Inc, 1986
Kinman, Judith R. & Darwin L. Henderson. A Guide to Newbery Medal Winners and Honor
Books, 1977 – 1984. University of Cincinnati, 1984.
Reese, Debbie. “Eighth Graders Analyze SIGN OF THE BEAVER.” American Indians in Children’s Literature, 20 Mar 2007, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/03/eighth-graders-analyze-sign-of-beaver.htmlAccessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Reese, Debbie. “More on SIGN OF THE BEAVER.” American Indians in Children’s Literature, 11 Apr. 2007, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/04/more-on-sign-of-beaver-below-is-essay.htmlAccessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Reese, Debbie. “The word ‘squaw’ in SIGN OF THE BEAVER.” American Indians in Children’s Literature, 22 Oct. 2007, https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/10/word-squaw-in-sign-of-beaver.html Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
https://scottodell.com/the-scott-odell-award
Mentions
American Indian Library Association
Amy Sedaris: At Home With Amy Sedaris Official
http://www.trutv.com/shows/at-home-with-amy-sedaris/index.html
Caldwell, Naomi, Gabrielle Kaye, & Lisa A. Mitten, eds. “‘I’ is for Inclusion: The Portrayal of Native Americans in Books for Young People.” From Program of the ALA/OLOS Subcommittee of Library Services to American Indian People American Indian Library Association, 23 June 2007. http://ailanet.org/docs/I%20IS%20FOR%20INCLUSION-rev%2010-07.pdf Accessed 3 Jan. 2018.
Cynthia Lietich Smith’s Official Author Page
https://cynthialeitichsmith.com
Dr. Debbie Reese – American Indians in Children’s Literature
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
Dr. Eliza Dresang – In Memoriam
Joseph Bruchac’s Homepage
Oyate
Publisher and reviewer of books about Native Americans, particularly those aimed at schoolchildren
Sensitivity Readers: Fairly well balanced article about sensitivity readers.
Alter, Alexandra. “In an Era of Online Outrage, Do Sensitivity Readers Result in Better Books, or Censorship?” New York Times, 24 Dec. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/books/in-an-era-of-online-outrage-do-sensitivity-readers-result-in-better-books-or-censorship.html Accessed on 6 Mar 2018.
We Need Diverse Books
White Privilege: Explained by Jamie Kapp’s excellent comic
Your Intrepid Hosts
Jennie and Marcy are two book-loving mamas (and a librarian and a bookseller, respectively) who are reading and drinking their way through the entire catalogue of Newbery books, and interviewing authors and illustrators along the way.