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Imaginary Indians: Representations of Native Americans in Scholastic Reading Club

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Abstract

Scholastic Reading Clubs are a popular and inexpensive way for teachers to build classroom libraries and for parents to purchase books for their children. The books made accessible to children through the order forms are assumed to be suitable for young readers in terms of their content, popularity, currency, and curricular relevance. Multicultural books occupy a small fraction of the selections, and books about Native Americans are essentially absent. This study examines Scholastic Reading Club order forms available over the course of a year. The quantitative and qualitative findings show that stereotypical misrepresentations of Native Americans persist and literature by Native authors and illustrators is completely lacking.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis Avenue, LWH Room # 4019, Chicago, IL, 60625, USA

    Amina Chaudhri

  2. Garfield Elementary School, 1514 S. 9th Avenue, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA

    Nicole Schau

Authors
  1. Amina Chaudhri
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  2. Nicole Schau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amina Chaudhri.

Additional information

Amina Chaudhri is an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education Department at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. She teaches courses in Reading, Social Studies and Children’s Literature.

Nicole Schau is a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University and currently teaches 2nd grade at Garfield Elementary School in Maywood, Illinois.

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Chaudhri, A., Schau, N. Imaginary Indians: Representations of Native Americans in Scholastic Reading Club. Child Lit Educ 47, 18–35 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-015-9255-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-015-9255-1

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