I’m trying to figure out why the publisher, Open Arms, is using a simian in the book El sueño de mirabel/Mirabel’s Dreams. Here’s the publisher’s description of the book.
This is the story of Mirabel, a 24-year-old woman who left her home in Nigeria because of the difficulties in her country and managed to reach the shores of Libya after a perilous journey. There, however, things took a turn for the worse. She was kidnapped by militias and sold into slavery.
After two years of suffering, her luck changed when a ship named Golfo Azzurro appeared on the horizon. Mirabel, along with 388 other people fleeing the horrors of Libya, was rescued and taken to safety.
It was then that the young woman discovered she was pregnant as a result of the abuse she suffered during the migration. Mirabel and her baby had faced many dangers and were hoping for a chance to start over in a safe place.
May all those who flee their homes not have to suffer to find a safe place to live in peace and build a happy future.
If you’re new to my blog, there are reasons why I’m questioning the book. There are very recent reasons why.
There’s quite a bit going on at the University of Mississippi. During anti war protests earlier this month, a Black woman protesting the war in Gaza was assaulted with monkey chants and gestures by a white male counter protestor.
The encounter was caught on video
It was also shared online by a MS Representative with the caption, ”Ole Miss taking care of business.” The student making the gestures was expelled from his fraternity but not disciplined by the school. More: https://lamag.com/news/ole-miss-students-make-monkey-noises-at-black-protestor
In June, 2023 ten year old Gavin Alston addressed the city council during a meeting in Redmond, Oregon. It seems the mayor was sent a racoon with a racist note naming him and a Black city council person. Young Gavin spoke to the council to let them know he understands how they felt, and to ask why this happens to Black people. In his heartbreaking video he talks about how good school was in the third grade. But, in the fourth grade, he went to a new school where he was called “the n-word, a monkey, and Black boy. One girl said she would hit me but, that’s called animal abuse. We should not get treated like this.” More: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dead-raccoon-racially-hateful-message-redmond-oregon-mayor-ed-fitch-black-city-council-member-clifford-evelyn/
No, dear Gavin. We shouldn’t.
Cotton Quilts Edi 
Even after a LOT of anti-bias and DEI training, some of my coworkers still read books with monkeys behaving like people at storytime. UGH. At least our collection development librarian tries to be aware and not purchase books like this.
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I’ve learned you can’t expect people to see this; it has to be addressed directly.
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…I am wholly bewildered. A picture book depicting the story of a twenty-four year old Nigerian woman and… they chose a monkey to illustrate the story… because a human being, an African woman would be too …something? I mean, a monkey makes it safely seem… something… else? I can’t figure out what fill-in-the-blanks game readers are supposed to be playing, but the book is very clearly losing.
To finish by capping it off with a supportive statement about “safe places” and “happy futures” sets one’s teeth on edge.
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It is hard not to want to say too much without being able to look inside the book, but yes it does seem there is something else going on here.
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