Review - Little People: An Alphabet

Little People: An Alphabet
by T. W. H. Crosland
Date: 1902
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 108
Format: e-book
Source: Open Library

(see it on Goodreads)

Good "Uncle Sam" has food to spare
For hungry nations everywhere;
His manufactures, too, are sent
From Occident to Orient.

Obviously written a long, long time ago, Little People is a fascinating glimpse at an old alphabet book for children. While modern readers will likely find the pages full of stereotypes and racism, they may also find a fascinating look at social views from over a century ago.

Some of the entries are positively cringe-worthy. C is for Chinaboy (his father's name is Loo Too Sin and he's a good boy, despite not putting sugar in his tea). I is for Indian (he goes shirtless and wears a feather headdress). J is for Japanese (referred to as "Japs" and much is made of how tiny they are). K is for Kaffir (implied to be shifty and named Washington Neb-u-chad-nez-zar Solomon Sambo Snowball Timothy Jack Adolphus Rule Britannia Black). The stereotypes and assumptions don't stop there. All Persians apparently know the Shah. Quakers are secretly rich (because they don't spend much money on food, so they have "pots of money"). Valencia is a town "full of dirt and mules and fleas". I thought this seemed almost like a really old edition of books like Children Just Like Me... but then there are a couple of entries that don't seem to be about children at all. O is for Odalisque, which, as far as I can tell, is some sort of Turkish servant (the copy I read was missing that picture). And Z is for Zany, which is apparently some kind of clown or jester. I don't know what that has to do with anything.

The book ends with the words: Now we have finished--and I'm glad. Me, too, Mr. Crosland. Me, too. Check this one out for an interesting historical lesson on racism and colonialism. But, for goodness sake, don't give it to your kids (unless you're going to sit down and have an in-depth conversation about why this sort of book would never fly in 2020).

Premise: 2/5
Meter: 2/5
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.57 out of 5