ABSTRACT

Louise Clarke Pyrnelle's texts reveal how the children of the Southern plantation, living and playing within the realms of the nursery and the woods, navigate malleable spaces between the white world of the big house and the black quarters of the slaves. Left alone to amuse themselves, the children find subtle ways to mimic, test, rewrite, and even challenge the rigidity of the slave system through their stories, language, and imaginative play. Perhaps not surprisingly, Louise Clarke Pyrnelle's children's novels are seldom read and scarcely touched by readers or critics. Certainly, retaining works that intrinsically support racist ideology and slavery as "classic" texts for children is problematic. Diddie, Dumps, and Tot is among the earliest children's books from the Deep South to portray the frisky, wayward, and autobiographically enriched child. The final means of imitation shown by Pyrnelle's young protagonists occurs through their active play.