Customer Reviews

They Were Strong and Good

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was born in '44 and my mother read this book to me time and again while showing me the drawings. I later endeavoured to read it myself. The book is not racist! It is an accurate depiction of the way things were and it tells, and tells well. the stories of the lives of the people in the book. It tells of the warmth of the love they had for each other, but without saying so. It tells of the fineness of character and the nobility of honor that they possessed, but, again, without saying so. It is a book that at age fifty seven I cannot read without weeping nor without feeling intense pride and admiration for all those in the stories. The stories awakened in me a curiosity and reverence for the stories of the lives of my own ancestors.....and I hope it does the same for each of you. What they went through! What suffering and privation! And how well they lived their lives. It is a book to give each of us pause to think and consider and reflect on the entire business of living our lives and on what standards of life and morals and principles we should chose to live by. But, simply put, it is a book of stories about ancestors and stories of what they did and stories of how they lived their lives and who they knew and how those they knew lived too. And from those simple stories may be learned the most important lessons in life. Thank you and I hope you come to love They Were Strong and Good as I do. It may be sold as a "children's" book but it should be in the library, and in the heart, of every adult.

We all have special people in our pasts, and it's delightful to see Robert Lawson share about his. Lawson's family is depicted with clever prose and his beautiful black-and-white illustrations. His reminiscence made me eager to look into my family tree for my own version of "Strong and Good."

In an age of p.c. history, it's refreshing to listen to Lawson share HIS story, whether we are pleased with all the characterizations, or not. Whitewashing history to pacify is not history, it's a tragic rinsing of what the world was like in the past. When I saw the review of this book claiming it was a racist stomach-churner, I decided to read it myself. Don't let someone else censor your child's understanding of history. (By the way, some of my ancestors were loggers and circuit-riding preachers. Lawson desribes them as a noisy bunch of obnoxious fellows. Am I offended? Not really.) Let's celebrate our histories, whatever they may be.

People have to remember the book was published in 1940. The language and ideas are typical of that era. To say it is racist, or to say that it shouldn't be republished is to deny the nations history. I feel the book is a powerful teaching tool for young people to illustrate how America has changed and how far we have come. People who do not appreciate the book have their eyes shut to history.

The pictures are so entertaining that they could almost tell the story without the words. A man is writing a story about his parents and his grandparents as he remembers the story from his childhood. His parents and grandparents were very interesting people. One grandfather was a ships captain who brought home strange and wonderful gifts to his family and friends. The other was a preacher who also fought in the Civil War. His father fought in the Civil War when he was only 14 years old. His grandmothers and mother were quiet and peaceful women. The book also tells about how each couple met and decided to get married.

I think this book is simply beautiful. The drawings are simple and clean. It's inspiring to me and I am considering writing and drawing a similar book about my own ancestors for my children and grandchildren. I know we're not supposed to comment on other reviews but here goes. I can see where those who are caught up in the here and now atmosphere of political correctness might call it racist but personally I don't see it. Maybe it's because I've spent years digging into my own family history and learning about the beliefs and attitudes and my ancestors. If I were to write a similar book about my ancestors am I supposed to skip or gloss over the fact that some of them owned slaves? They did, and they probably did not treat them like honored guests. Was Lawson supposed to draw the little black boy in the same good quality clothing as the little white boy. That would be nice, but that's not the way it was and it can't be altered or ignored. We should not forget those attitudes because that's what prevents them from prevailing today. A true historian tells it like it was - and that's what Lawson did. Alex Haley and Dee Brown brilliantly wrote about history from the slave and Indian points of view, Lawson tells it from the white settler point of view. You need all points of view to see the whole picture. Great book!

I am twenty-eight years old, and I have read and enjoyed this book since I was a child. One characteristic of it struck me, however, as I was reading it to my nephew the other day. The story of the narrator's father offers a fresh perspective on the Civil War.

History is not only the description of national/international events. It is also important to learn how individuals experienced these events. What our children are taught in school about the Civil War can be complemented by the saga in this book. It is just the kind of thing which Ken Burns would adore.

This book also contains the stories of the narrator's mother, and of his grandparents. These stories are exquisitely detailed, and the award-winning illustrations correspond well to these items, people and events which are part of the grand kaleidescope of American history.

I wonder how factual this book is?

This Caldecott Medal winner was published in 1940 and of course is represented here with this 1966 edition. The reader must, and I emphasis "must" constantly remind themselves of several facts while reading this work with a child. First, it was written in 1940 and the cold hard facts are that people views of that time were different than those of today. Next, we have to not the author's forward and remember that he explicated states concerning the stories in this book:

"Most of it I heard as a little boy, so there may be many mistakes; perhaps I have forgotten or mixed up some of the events and people. But that does not really matter, for this is not alone the story of my parents and grandparents, it is the story of the parents and grandparents of most of us who call ourselves Americans."

Using simple math then, we can see that these stories are not being told just through the author's time and through the author's eyes (and perceptions, I might add), but also of those of his parents and grandparents which all date to the Pre-Civil War Era. We are viewing history through the eyes of three generations. Now that being said, and I will have more to say on this subject later in this review, we need to look at the story.

Robert Lawson, who did the original illustrations for "Ferdinand the Bull and many other illustrations in both books, magazines and papers, gives us a history of his family as told to him by his family members; these are his recollections as he remembers and understands them. This is quite a mixture as the original grandparents came from four different countries and four different cultural backgrounds. A sea captain, A little Dutch girl who lived on a farm in New Jersey, A young girl growing up on the frontier of the Pacific Northwest, a farm boy growing up on a farm in the deep South, and a soldier (a very young soldier) who fought for the Confederacy, and an Englishman who lived in Alabama who was always fighting...a preacher, a bible thumping preacher.

This mixture is what brought the author into the world.

This work is for younger children, Ages 9 - 12, and is quite appropriate for that age group. The illustrations are black and white drawings, beautifully done and to be honest, they absolutely make the story. Some of these are happy, some starkly sad, some thoughtful, some tragic and others delightful. There are bits of humor stuck here and there in the illustrations along with some very profound visual statements. All in all though, it is indeed the history of most American families vividly portrayed, not only the good as the title of the book would indicate, but by today's standards, also the bad.

Now, as to the objections of this book: I personally found absolutely nothing racist about this work, if of course I read it though the eyes of the man who wrote it and through the eyes and perceptions of those who told him these stories of his family. If we consider the author was using the acceptable terms of his time. Yes, the term "colored boy" to describe a young black man is certainly a racist term, but remember, we are talking over 50 years ago that this work was written. Yes folks, that was indeed a common term then, like it or not. As to the illustrations being racist...good grief, how on earth are you going to draw a picture of a black slave as they really appeared without seeming racist by today's ethics and standards? To do otherwise would be historically incorrect and intellectually dishonest. Showing a young male slave dressed in rags in 1860 pretty well hit the mark and it would be absolutely silly to dress him in an Armani suit. This objection is pure silliness. The same hold true with the dress and actions of the Native Americans portrayed here. KEEP IN MIND that the author is only repeating what he heard from his grandparents and I fear that many, many of the early settlers of the Northwest did indeed have a very low opinion of the Native Americans living there at that time. This is simply historical fact. We may not like it, but that dislike is not going to make history go away.

We have come a long way, with further to go and one sure way of making no more progress is to deny and revise our history to the point of forgetting the facts.

To not admit that the institution of slavery was one of the most horrid blights in our countries history is unthinkable and to not admit that the way the Native Americans were treated since Europeans first landed here was barbaric and deplorable is a crime unto itself. But that being said, to deny that this did not all happen and to not teach our children the cold hard facts of our history is also a crime and would be a true pity and big, big mistake. We all, every single one of us have forefathers and mothers who were very good people, but alas, were products of their times and did things and had attitude that were simply wrong. To deny this is to have your head in the sand. To deny this and not teach our children this is exactly like denying the holocaust and not teaching our children of such. Absurd!

I have found no other book that is so capable of striking interest in family history for the young than this work. It should be in every school library. A teacher or parent can get hours and hours of discussion out of this on...it is a very valuable tool... a powerful tool.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This great little book was written with a wonderful point of view - looking backwards at his ancestors and the way he perceived their stories. It tells things as he sees them - truthfully, not hatefully, but with respect to the viewpoint the stories come from. Just because someone doesn't agree doesn't mean he should doctor the stories up and lie about the perceptions he is writing about. The story is not a history about the wrongs everyone has done to everyone else in the past. It is not about hating ANYONE. It states things that happened, and how he perceived his ancestors from their stories. Period. I don't understand all of the racism against Europeans here. Civilizations have been fighting and territory has been moved back and forth between groups (as well as slavery) of people throughout ALL OF HISTORY. That doesn't change the fact that it happened or mean that it shouldn't be talked about. If any man, no matter what race, ever came into my house demanding food, I can't imagine he'd be on my "favorites" list. Enough said. Buy the book, read it, and be proud of your own ancestors.

A wonderful sketch of the past. Both the drawings and the words bring a glimpse of his forebears. A lovely book.

To what extent do you hold a book accountable for the crimes of its times? Caldecott Award winner "They Were Strong and Good" has some remarkable qualities as well as some lamentable ones. Created by the clever man who brought the world's attention to sweet "Ferdinand" the bull, Robert Lawson chooses here to tell the stories of his parents and grandparents. As he himself points out in the beginning, none of them were great or famous but, "They all helped to make the United States the great nation that it now is". Each grandparent hailed from a different country and each settled in the United States. Some lived in the North and some fought for the South during the Civil War. In the end, however, they were not remarkable people. But they were strong and good.

So be it. I like this idea. And I like the author's illustrations (for the most part). Lawson's mastery of the pen and ink method is superb in this story. An exceptional example is his illustration of the City of Paterson. Using a "then" and "now" motif, he displays Paterson first in all its grimy Industrial Revolution glory and then in its previous pastoral perfection. Lawson is also adept at the visual gag. Once the author's Scottish sea captain of a grandfather and his Dutch grandmother wed, the next picture (rather than a frolicsome wedding shot) shows a woman heaved over the side of the boat. Says the text, "My mother's mother liked the monkeys and the sugar cane and the parrots, but she did not like sailing on the sea". Understatement at its finest.

Which brings me to the parts of the book I don't like. I really wish I could've loved this book wholly and without reservation. Remember - this book was published in 1940. I was willing to forgive the shot of a happy black boy in the Caribbean. There may have been some. I was willing to forgive the Native Americans that the author's mother did not like. The book doesn't caricature them too badly and the worst they do is ask for food. And anyway, she hated white lumberjacks too. But then you start getting into the portrayals of African-Americans and the book loses me. If the book had just contained that picture of a mammy-like servant threatening the Native Americans, I still wouldn't have objected too heartily. She's actually not a bad caricature. Though wearing the standard head scarf she isn't smiling with the big lips so horrid in some books. It's the moment when the narrative switches from the Northerners' lives to the Southerners'. The author's father owned a slave and two dogs. Then war broke out and we suddenly have a shot of the whole family, slaves and all, weeping as father goes off to war. A different mammy-like woman sobs on a porch. The black slave boy sobs as well. Just out of curiosity, folks, why exactly are the slaves upset? Finally, to add insult to injury, we see another black slave riding into town to warn the citizens that the Yankees are coming. To be honest, this is a bit puzzling. Shouldn't the slave be riding TOWARDS the Yankees? Or is that just revisionist history?

In any case, these little touches all combine to make me less than absolutely in love with this story. Though the premise is an excellent one, the racial tone makes it a difficult read today. Not a poor read, necessarily. But a read that will require a lot of explanation to those four year-olds that can't understand why the Indians went around demanding food all the time.