No Quiero Skippyjon Jones
For the first couple of years I lived in Los Angeles, I really enjoyed the L.A. Times Festival Of Books. I got free parking, a decent meal and unlimited beverages in the green room, and then I appeared on panels in front of anywhere between 20 and 100 people and afterward got to personally meet the two people who'd purchased my work. Then I went home, loosened my belt, and watched the Dodger game while drinking a beer.
That was in my role as semi-well-known midlist author. As a paying customer with a six-year-old, I had a much different experience. Here's a quick summary:
It was hot and overcrowded. After paying for parking, a lemonade, and a soft pretzel, I was out 20 bucks. The "children's area", while certainly expansive, was mostly comprised of payola booths for bad self-published books featuring characters that no one has ever heard of and never will, and even worse corporate-published books by celebrities who can't write. While we were there, the children's entertainment stage, sponsored by Target, featured a despicable bear character called "Hip Hop Harry," who danced in front of his gathered victims to a pre-recorded rap about the importance of staying hydrated. Salman Rushdie in conversation with Nadine Gordimer, this was not.
But whatever. We got there late on Sunday and planned poorly. The LA Times Festival Of Books is the best book festival in the country. This post exists to complain about something else. Thus, the narrative continues:
"I want a Sno-Cone," Elijah moaned.
"You can have a Sno-Cone if you agree to let us buy you a book," Regina said.
"Fine," Elijah said.
Most booths were impassable. However, none had a longer line than the one giving away free passes to a preview screening of Up. For some reason, this profoundly depressed me. At least the line wasn't for free Jack In The Box, though I'd imagine that line would have been even longer. We finally found our way into the nearest "bookstore," a large tent bearing the Target corporate logo. The only books for sale were ones by people who'd read at the stage that weekend. There was also much propaganda for Yo Gabba Gabba and Hip-Hop Harry.
"You know," I said to Regina, "maybe we should go to an independent bookstore. Skylight has a decent selection of kids books..."
But it was too late. Elijah was already holding a book.
"I want this one," he said.
"Are you sure?" I said. "I think there's a comic-book tent that has a lot of Asterix books..."
"NO!" he said. "This one. And then a Sno-Cone."
Elijah's choice was called Skippyjon Jones. Apparently, according to the embossment, it had won an E.B. White award. The Siamese cat on the cover looked harmless enough. Clearly, Elijah chose this book because it was the first one he saw that didn't have Hannah Montana's name in the title, and he just wanted to get his Sno-Cone. I was sure that we could do better, but whatever. I was hot and had a nasty sinus headache, and just wanted to get the hell out of there. So we bought Skippyjon Jones.
The Sno-Cone proved to be the wiser purchase, as Elijah hacked at it all the way home, allowing Regina and I to complain to each other about many things for nearly 45 minutes. Before bed, Regina read Skippyjon Jones to Elijah. I half-listened from the other room. Apparently, it's about a Siamese cat who imagines, much to his mother's chagrin, that he hooks up with a gang of "Chimichanga chihuahuas" and becomes a "bandito" called "Skippito." He also uses the phrase "Holy Guacamole!" I think you can see where this is going. Here's a little excerpt:
"Alfredo Buzzito," whispered the crowd. "El Blimpo Bumblebeeto Bandito."
"Si," said Poquito Tito. "The Bandito steals our frijoles."
"Not your beans!" cried Skippito, outraged.
"Si," Poquito continued:
As I listened, my jaw dropped wider and wider, and I hoped our many Mexican neighbors weren't eavesdropping on us.
After Elijah went to bed, I said to Regina, "Was I imagining something, or is that book a little bit racist?"
"I was thinking the same thing," she said. "It made me uncomfortable. But it won an award."
"Yeah," I said, "but I know the book business. That award came from white people."
Curiouser and curiouser, I did a little Skippyjon research on the internet. Sure enough, there's a mild controversy about Skippito. If you look at the reviews on Amazon, they're overwhelmingly positive, with 16 one-star reviews from Mexican-American parents who say that the book perpetuates negative stereotypes about their people. Then the white parents say, basically, you people need to get a sense of humor about yourselves. I've got to say, I'm siding with the Mexicans on this one.
Now, I'm not accusing Ms. Judy Schachner of Pennsylvania of being a racist. She probably has not idea that she's created the literary version of "yo quiero Taco Bell," just like the author of Little Black Sambo couldn't imagine that his titular character was a racist stereotype that would haunt black people for a century. When T.S. Eliot had Growltiger fight those "chink" Siamese in their "sampans and their junks," the concept of Orientalism barely existed. Rudyard Kipling didn't know that his noble Gunga Din was a colonialist's wet dream of native servitude.
Judy Schachner, and her many internet defenders, don't understand why it's not funny, and pretty demeaning, to have her hero stick "o" on the end of words while speaking in his "best Spanish accent." Even Carlos Mencia is more sophisticated than that. Also, a Spanish accent is softer and more lispy. Think Gael Garcia Bernal in Almodovar drag, not Speedy Gonzales.
Today, Regina took Skippyjon back to Target and exchanged him for The Lorax, a book that's not going to offend any parent, except maybe Sean Hannity. You can call us "p.c." if you want, though that term has lacked real cultural currency since about 1993. But it's not like we try to shield our son from all ethnic stereotypes. I let him watch The Simpsons, for God's sake. The difference here is that The Simpsons, and its ilk, are aware of their stereotypes, and they satirize them in order to show us all how ridiculous our prejudices are.
Skippyjon Jones, on the other hand, is a racist. We may not realize that now, but 100 years from now, people will laugh at our outdated stereotypes of Mexicans. And they'll be laughing in Spanglish accents.
Comments
I've read that book many times and always had a little pang of this. But now I feel kind of bad for keeping it.
Posted by: Daddy Geek Boy | April 29, 2009 10:46 PM
Damn. We have the Skippyjon Jones Up and Down board book, and the little man loves it. There's definitely nothing like this in it or it would have "fallen out of the stroller" a long time ago. That fucking sucks- I mean seriously, do we really have to pass *all* our stupid shit onto our children? Isn't the hole in the ozone enough?
Posted by: kommishoner | April 29, 2009 10:53 PM
We have a few of the Skippyjon Jones books and I don't feel bad for keeping them. I like listening to my husband read them to the kids because when he sings the songs, it's totally hot.
I also gotta say I don't think you get it that the book is about a cat who THINKS he is a chihuahua because he is trying to justify why he is so awful and doesn't seem to fit right in his family. He spends his time in trouble using his imagination pretending to be a chihuahua. If you were a young child pretending to be something you are not, you would use the words you know or recognize from that culture in your game. It's not racist, it is a trip in to the child mind of make believe.
Posted by: sadie | April 30, 2009 1:24 AM
We only have on Skippyjon book and it isn't like that at all. It is a cooking story featuring his mom. I don't recall any of the botched stereotypes.
sadie, thank you for clearing up something that had been confusing me. I kept trying to get Eli to explain whether Skippyjon was a cat or a chihuahua and he couldn't tell me!
Posted by: Mommagrrl | April 30, 2009 2:33 AM
For the same reason, we turn off The Simpsons whenever Bumblebee Man is on.
But don't you know The Lorax subverts capitalism and recklessly promotes environmental concerns over industrial progress and the creation of wealth? The "thneed," that wonderful portmanteau word of thing and need is genius -- it's the ur-product -- and yet it's being criticized in the narrative. Reading the book in public may subject E to attacks by teabaggers, who may call hims a socialist, communist, and a fascist, so be careful.
Posted by: jtc | April 30, 2009 6:58 AM
Yeah, I could be swayed, but I think I'm with sadie on this. This was the first Skippyjon Jones book I bought, but we'd already had the other ones from the library. It seemed pretty consistent to me; the frijoles storyline seemed like a natural extension of what had happened in the other books.
I might add here that my wife is Ecuadorian. And that I play up the accent when I read those books out loud to our son. No objections to date, although she's not Mexican.
I had a friend in college who liked to pretend to speak Spanish, often by adding an -o to the end of everything. He was an idiot. Skippyjon is a kitten trying to pretend he's a chihuahua. He's a protagonist in a kid's book. I know there's a line somewhere, but he doesn't cross mine. Probably there's some other book (or 12) that goes on to explain that not all Mexicans eat beans, but this book is just supposed to be silly, although it might touch on those deeper themes sadie mentioned. I was never very good at figuring that stuff out.
Also -- and I say this as aghast at stereotypes as you are, generally -- beans are a staple of the average Mexican's diet. Rice too. I respect your outrage or discomfort or whatever it was, but there's also something kind of SNL or Chapelle's Show about it, you know?
Still, I see your side. If I asked my kid if he thought all Mexicans ate beans all the time or whatever, and he said yes, we'd have to talk. And I respect your feeling that the book isn't worth having that talk -- easier not to read it in the first place. But I guess part of my point is, it's a kitten pretending to be a chihuahua. I don't think "All Mexicans eat beans all the time" is what my kid's really getting out of it. I could be wrong, though.
Posted by: troy | April 30, 2009 9:40 AM
Yeah, well, I don't want Elijah reading some boring book that goes "Rosa and her brothers eat beans every night because beans are a staple of the Mexican diet." That's boring. But I think the problem here is that the writer isn't AWARE of the stereotypes she's perpetuating. Chappelle's Show exists to mock racism.
Posted by: Neal Pollack | April 30, 2009 9:46 AM
As usual, Neal, you're overreacting. This happens to be an excellent book, enjoyable to read and funny as well. It's playfulness with language is excellent. Your claim that the writer is perpetuating stereotypes is simplistic, particularly since said cartoon stereotypes are no longer active. Had she drawn the cat-bandits as gang members driving lowriders, you might have had a point. But the banditos are so far removed from how people perceive mexicans (stereotypically or not), that their portrayal is just not relevant to current cultural bigotry.
The real reason you shouldn't be reading Skippy Jon Jones is because speaking with that accent will give you swine flu.
Posted by: skippy | April 30, 2009 11:02 AM
Vibe Magazine just reported that Hip Hop Harry shot DMX last night in Brooklyn, in an unfortunate culmination of their long-running feud about hydration practices.
Posted by: ccw | April 30, 2009 11:52 AM
i agree with you, neal. a girl i nannied had this book and reading it once made me pretty uncomfortable and a little worried about her future ideals.
i think what some other commenters could apply to their future book purchases is sensitive empathy: more often than not, little kids DO believe EXACTLY what they read. and hear. and see. and don't know any different unless they're told or shown differently.
Posted by: denese | April 30, 2009 7:38 PM
What happened in 1993 that robbed the term "PC" of its cultural currency? Is that when the backlash started?
Posted by: floor pie | April 30, 2009 8:06 PM
"i agree with you, neal. a girl i nannied had this book and reading it once made me pretty uncomfortable and a little worried about her future ideals."
So you fear that this poor girl will grow up to believe that a talking cat will pretend to be a dog and hook up with a group of desperate chihuahua bandits who have been unwittingly harassed by a giant bee?
Contrary to what you may think, children aren't stupid.
Posted by: skippy | May 1, 2009 3:18 PM
I will give those of you who are "supporters" of this book that the language is very playful and fun - and I love the way the kitty uses his imagination.
But I live in LA, and anyone who thinks that this portrayal of Mexicans is "ok"or " so removed from reality" or that "kids won't remember it" is kidding themselves. This plays into every Mexican stereotype we have in America - with absolutely no awareness.
How would we feel reading a book written by a white suburban woman about a cat that makes believe he's a jive talkin' black dog who likes to watermelon - or some such thing? Seriously?
Posted by: Reg | May 1, 2009 8:56 PM
i suppose i should have better stated my perspective. it seems i portrayed myself to be one who believes that children are stupid. i should be ashamed of myself.
the gist of my comment was intended to mesh with neal's stance on the gross stereotypical undertone of the skippyjon jones book. i meant to express my fear that children will continue to unwittingly embrace veiled stereotypes in books given to them by people who possess malfunctioning societal impact filters (the girl i mentioned received this book from a grandparent who is as clueless as the author).
i believe this book sends the message to many kids that it's okay to identify an entire culture based on a paltry few characteristics. many other kids know better, yet other kids won't even pick up on the prejudice. as a parent, i know i have the responsibility to provide my daughter with consumable materials and experiences that foster her ideals of fairness, acceptance, and imagination. i just don't like this book. i don't want my daughter to read it. i appreciate neal's thoughtfulness in drawing attention to this issue.
Posted by: denese | May 1, 2009 11:14 PM
We have this book as well and I'm not a fan. Luckily I guess, neither is my son. One thing I do recall though that may make it even worse is that the mother cat and the other kittens are written to sound "black." I've never been able to exactly pinpoint what i don't like about this book but this helped me start to figure it out.
Posted by: Todd | May 4, 2009 1:46 PM
NP -- I meant there was something sort of Chapelle's Show about your reaction, not about the book. Although I realize now it actually reminds me more of the Seinfeld scene where Elaine and her boyfriend realize they are not Latina and black, respectively. "I'm not sure we're supposed to be talking about this." Probably I have it wrong, or am just projecting.
Lemme take another tack here: Where in the book does it say anyone is Mexican? I'm not remembering that. The chihuahua is of Mexican origin, but 4-year-olds don't know that.
I also want to float the idea that this is an acceptable introduction to Spanish culture for this age group. There are other ways to go -- a dry description of Latin culture and accomplishments, or a book with no ethnic overtones in the content, only clearly Latino characters -- but I find this a fun way to expose a toddler or post-toddler to the language and other crude aspects of the culture. Perhaps in different hands, it wouldn't be. Maybe, given his background, my son is in an uncommon position not to take it the wrong way. But I submit that any parent who is more racist than are those of us worried about this issue would find some other medium to communicate that to their kid, beyond this book.
Some of the objection to the book seems to be based around its author being white. That seems presumptuous. What do we know of her background? As noted, my wife is Ecuadorian. I've seen some of the country and spent time with her family. For all you know, I could have majored in Ecuadorian studies in college (or something). I might be eminently qualified to write a childrens book with Ecuadorian overtones, what with the support system I'd have to make sure it was factually correct along with a strong command of English. And I'd like to think the book would be fun, too. But if you saw my photo on the back jacket, what would stop you from wondering why some white guy was writing this book?
None of this is to suggest anyone should be forced to read this book to their kids. Just to explain why I'm comfortable with it. I mean, can we at least agree it's exponentially better than Dora and Diego?
Posted by: troy | May 7, 2009 10:17 AM
Troy:
You make a good point about forming assumptions of the writer's background. For all I know, she could have fought with the Zapatistas as a sympathizer. But I don't agree that the book is better than Dora and Diego. I loathe those characters on aesthetic grounds, but there's no doubt that they're Hispanic, and they promote not a single negative ethnic stereotype that I can pinpoint. The fact that they're sickly-sweet and condescending just shows that some things can span cultural bridges.
Posted by: Neal Pollack | May 7, 2009 11:12 AM
"I also want to float the idea that this is an acceptable introduction to Spanish culture for this age group. "
Troy, seriously?!! This book presents a stereo-typical, shallow, and frankly appalling version of Latino culture: ending words in "o" to make them sound hispanic, suggesting all Mexicans eat beans and are banditos, using a horrible and exaggerated accent - it's just awful and offensive. You must not live in an area with many hispanics is you believe that this is an acceptable introduction to that culture. You might as well say the same thing about a trip to Taco Bell.
As I read in a review elsewhere, why doesn't she just have a neurotic poodle who's jewish? Maybe she could team up with George Lucas and have a cheap shopkeeper who's jewish and trade federation guys who are asian... oh, oops. nevermind. ;)
Posted by: Reg | May 7, 2009 1:20 PM
My little Texican girl LOVES that crappy book. The racism doesn't bother me as much as the fact that it's poorly written.
Posted by: jessica o | May 7, 2009 2:48 PM
Clearly, Reg is off her meds.
Posted by: Neal Pollack | May 7, 2009 2:55 PM
bite me, Pollack
Posted by: Reg | May 7, 2009 10:03 PM
And yet I'll respond to her, just to ask: Why say the book suggests 'all Mexicans' eat beans, etc.?
And to say that I work in New York City, and live in southwest Connecticut. I might have seen a Latino or two. As I noted, I see two every day before I leave the house.
Neal-o: Agree to disagree. Just want to add that I'm a big fan from 2002, when I was reading you in the New York Press (or its online archives), which I've told you before but never expected you to remember. Surely some people didn't 'get' your writing then. Comedy is nuanced. (You wrote a column about Sept. 11, no? I don't remember if it was humorous in nature; if it was, you see where I'm coming from. There's plenty of room for misunderstanding in comedy.) These books are supposed to be funny -- to little kids. Little kids don't take away the exact same things that we do from their experiences. This isn't Little Black Sambo. It's a kids book about chihuahuas. Maybe the distinction means more to me than it does to you, and I respect that, because maybe you're more right than I am.
Posted by: troy | May 8, 2009 11:36 AM
What about Speedy Gonzales? WB cartoons get a thumbs up or thumbs down for Pepé Lepieu?
Posted by: Bugs | May 13, 2009 5:11 AM
What about me and Speedy Gonzales? And Foghorn Leghorn?
Posted by: Pepé Lepieu | May 13, 2009 10:20 AM
Hey Pollack,
A new reader, but thank you so much for this post, for most of the reasons you know. When I got to Harvard for grad school, one of the first young whitewomen I met asked my name and then proceeded to tell me how much she loved the TacoBell chihuahua. I'm guessing that's because I'm visibly Latina. I'll skip five similar stories.
Thanks,
s.
Posted by: Susana | May 16, 2009 9:33 AM
My daughter LOVES Skippyjon Jones. She often loves to clap with me. I do see the stereotypical undertones and brought it to my husbands attention before he had to read it at bedtime. However, it is just a child's book. We live in Florida surronded by Latinos (not trying to sound racist but literally half our street is hispanic.) Not one time has she pointed to one of them and said "Look El Skippito." The book store I go to has these books in young children's FICTION. They are just fun to pretend to be a bandit. Also I would like to say how sick I am of white people comments to be racism and offensive while all other races can say whatever they want. Turn on Mencia you get all kinds of jokes about white people but that's okay...why?
Posted by: Mom of 2 | May 19, 2009 11:23 AM
Skippyjon: "16 one-star reviews from Mexican-American parents who say that the book perpetuates negative stereotypes about their people"
I just read through the Amazon reviews, and I think you've missed the mark. Most of the bad reviews were from white folks who were left feeling uncomfortable about whether or not they should be using a spanglish accent to build plays on words between english and spanish.
From what I've gathered from reviews around the net, many multi-cultural families enjoy this book. Perhaps its because it allows all of us to imagine the fun of pretending to play the role of the "other". Does the book borrow from cultural stereotypes? Maybe. But it borrows more from cultural practices, e.g. siestas and fiestas. And Mexicans (half of my family, mind you) have every right to be proud about their culinary heritage. Frijoles and all.
I definitely think you're being oversensitive. I'd encourage you to ask your hispanic friends to weigh in on the book. Have any?
Posted by: Toad | June 17, 2009 8:45 PM
I read every one of the previous comments, and as the white, bilingual-school-teacher grandmother and friend of literally hundreds of Latinos in NY (none of whom think I'm racist BTW), I must I personally could find a lot to be offended about in those PC posts. "Clueless grandparent?" Some of us are young and smart enough to teach your generation that maybe children need to take what is given as it is intended, not make up some thin-skinned "offense" so you can call someone a racist. I see Schachter's books (and Skippy's alter ego) as a love of Hispanic language and culture, so strong that Skippy wishes he WAS a Latino dog (can't think of any Latino cats offhand). How much more of a tribute do you want? And then you demean it by calling it racist? Really? When your child first said "Mama," did you tell him to pronounce "mother" properly so he didn't grow up promoting nasty ethnic stereotypes? And all because you think he should be reading Asterix instead!? OMFG, who's the elitist snob again?
Posted by: Melissa | August 8, 2009 3:14 PM
thank you! thank you! for writing this. its always the smug white folks who defend these stupid books. dont take it so seriously they'll say, get a sense of humor, they'll say. they have no concept of what it is like to not be a white person in this culture and constantly be bombarded with all this negative crap. you are supposed to read this book with a fake spanish accent to make the book even more of a hilarious read. ha ha those stupid mexicans cant even pronounce these english words correctly. this book is a stereotyped simplification of mexican culture. a tribute? i dont think so. it does not make me proud to be a bean eating mexican bandito. this book is moronic and perpetuates all the racist stereotypes about latino people.
Posted by: eggalinameggalina | November 23, 2009 8:41 PM
Thank you. I completely agree with you about this book. It is too easy to say, "it's just a kid's book". It is racist and there are way too many other good books out there to even bother with this one. Glad you posted this!
Posted by: heather Miller | January 4, 2010 8:46 PM