Upon reflection after reading Prof. Duchesne’s John Locke’s Blank Slate and the Unique Development of Children’s Literature in the West. I came to realize that a crucial failing in pro-White dissident conservatism is our failure to offer much of a counter balance to the near total domination of the Cultural Marxist in children’s literature. Children’s literature is uniquely influential being that it is encountered by children during the hardwiring phase of their brain’s development. The progressive have had free reign over children’s book for years without very much opposition from conservatives and dissidents. Yet another blind spot for us in the culture wars
This is a symptom of our movement’s overall failing to create and distribute meaningful creative products beyond memes and articles (though there are dissidents working to correct these shortcomings). I don’t mean to diminish the importance of the Memes and articles by saying this, but obviously these endeavours should lead to dissidents taking these ideas into arenas beyond the internet world. We need music, sketch comedy, paintings, spoken-word poetry. We need it all! Yes, the world doesn’t make it easy for us these days, but that’s part of the fun of it-the challenge.
With these thoughts in my head, I decided to order a couple children’s books from The White People’s Press (TWPP), one of which was Charlie Chisolm’s A People Called American. I have enjoyed his political cartoons and occasional poems on the CEC for a few years now, so I was curious to see what a Charlie Chisolm White positive children’s book would be like. I also wanted to support the work of someone who actually has the guts to put his name out there and fight the good fight. My seven-year-old daughter and I were very pleased with his book.
The White People’s Press has an impressive collection of White-positive literature. They have children’s books, folklore anthologies, fiction and more. Their website is well put together and you can preview most of their books on the website. The printing press they use produces good quality books too. You can buy some of their books on Amazon, like the popular Folk (to which our very own Prof. Ricardo Duchesne contributed the Foreword), or you can order right off their website. I have ordered a few books from them, and they all arrived in a timely matter in good condition.
From a metapolitical dissident perspective I greatly appreciated how Chisolm’s A People Called American transmits an excellent version of the classic North American pioneer creation myth by way of a father explaining his peoples special place and history in history of America. As a father reading a book with their kid, I appreciated how this myth is communicated in a way that is accessible for a seven-year-old. Chisolm balances between being entertaining and educational very well in this book.
In the book we meet Tommy, a typical White Kid, who gets lectured in school about the evils of colonialism and gets picked on by some kids in school. Tommy is troubled by what he has learned about his people’s problematic role in his country’s problematic history. Tommy confides his feelings to his father who sets him straight by telling him about his family’s pioneer history.
Through Chisolm’s vibrant watercolors we join Tommy as learns about how his impoverished Scottish ancestors were forced off their homelands by greedy landlords and crammed on to an ocean ship bound for America, never to see their relatives again. Upon reaching America we see Tommy’s family struggle to survive on the frontier as they build their new country and a life for themselves.
Chisolm’s illustrations add so much to the book. Foremost is the fact that he does real illustrations. Most children’s book these days are illustrated by artist using computer programs. Children’s books that use computer artwork look lifeless and become boring to kids quickly. As well, most children’s book artists tend to draw character that are overly cute and androgenous looking.
Chisolm’s art is throwback. It is all hand-drawn and colored. The artwork is fairly straightforward, but the pages are full of colour and there is a lot going on each page. As can be seen from Chisolm’s political cartoons that occasionally grace this site, he is an expert at “busy” artwork. He has a talent for having a lot going on in his illustrations without it boiling over on him. This ability is well-suited to children’s book artwork, where the young reader enjoys studying the artwork, looking for little details, pondering why the world portrayed in the book looks so different from their own.
My seven-year-old daughter (oldest kid) has read Chisolm’s A People Called American several times now. She enjoys the book and has learned from it. I have always made a point to teach my kids about the glory of their colonial heritage, but the words of us adults can too abstract for most children to really absorb, having her read this book really brought the pioneer experience home for her. I think that as she gets older the story told in A People Called American will come to have more and more meaning for her. Kids from ages six to twelves years of age will enjoy this book.
I remember growing up in the late 80s to 90s in northern Alberta where we would regularly learn about the struggles and victories of the pioneers. We were taught to venerate our ancestors for building the country we were so proud of. Like many scruffy Canadian kids, my friends and I had very little going for ourselves. We all came from broken families where our parents drank too much, wandering around aimlessly in snow, not wanting to go home. But we were happy because we were proud of ourselves. We were proud to be tough Canadians.
Nowadays, all the books made about Canada’s history tend to center around Natives and black kids overcoming racism. Millions of innocent EuroCanadian children are having such whiny garbage crammed down their throats. I see the books that are available to kids in the schools, there is absolutely nothing out there that encourages EuroCanadian kids to be proud of what they are. Nothing! There are all these poor lost kids out there with loser parents that don’t even have a sense of pride in their people’s history to fall back on. How callous our rulers are to inflict this upon the descendants of the people who broke their backs building what used to be our country!
So, I am thankful for Charlie Chisolm’s A People Called American and his charming retelling of the North American pioneer creation myth. Transmitting our pioneer creation mythology to our children is one of the most important things we can do right now. If you need proof of this just look to how hard the Rainbow Regime is working to destroy our creation mythology and replace it with “we stole the land from the noble First Nations” narrative.
We need creative people to create works that nourish the spirits of ourselves and our children. Chisolm’s book has certainly done that for my daughter and I.
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