Jemmy Button

Product Information

He is given that name as he is taken from his island by aristocratic westerners who believe they can teach a feral person to be sophisticated in a more civilised society. Orundellico/Jemmy was one of four Fuegian natives taken by ship to England, and he wasn’t a boy, as depicted here, but a teenager of 15 to 16. What happened to the real Orundellico (aka Jemmy Button) had to have been a traumatic event, one I'm sure that must have left life-long scars.

I believe this could show a personal perspective of a boy who experienced a new culture but ultimately loved his own. Soon, he’s wearing their clothes, attending concerts, and even meeting the king and queen, but he never quite feels at home. But I was uncomfortable with the way in which the book glossed over the larger implications of colonialism and the ways that western exploration affected the societies that it touched and exploited. I think this tragic chapter in the history of British colonialism would have been better served if it had been told for a slightly older audience, an audience that could start to understand some of the sad implications inherent in this sad true life story. The picture book text says O'run-del'lico was "invited" to visit England, which may or may not have been the case.I adore the illustrated, single-tone silhouettes of English citizens juxtaposed with Jemmy in this 2013 NYT Best Illustrated picture book. Quite nice pictures soften the story of Orundellico, a boy of Tierra del Fuego, bought from his parents for a mother-of-pearl button and taken on the HMS Beagle to England to be "civilized. His story puts a human face on colonization and imperialistic conquest, but if it's HIS story, why isn't it told from his perspective with the complexity that a story like his deserves? Living on a “faraway island” a boy named Orundellico climbs the tallest trees, views the stars, listens to the ocean and wonders what’s “on the other side. Following the story are two paragraphs about the life of Orundellico, the inspiration for this book.

The contexts of O'run-del'lico (aka Jemmy Button)'s story as told through Uman and Vadali's picture book feel wrong to me. There's a lot of emotion at work in the art from the faceless Victorians who appear as silhouettes to the lush island full of life. This can then follow on to learn more about the true story and the conclusions Darwin and the other scientists made. How people get places and how interconnected we are as a world would be a point that I would want to highlight. In exchange for a mother-of-pearl button, a young boy named Orundellico is taken from his home at the tip of South America and brought to England by Captain Robert FitzRoy.This is made stronger when the boy is described as only missing the flora and fauna of his native land with no mention of the people!