Is it important for children to be able to see themselves in children’s books? Society has been changing the way in which children’s books have been written for years. When children’s books started to become published, it was hard to find children’s books about different cultures other than white culture. The children's books that were around were mainly about white people with generic names, and there were no people of a different culture or race involved. Children’s books that were published with a person of a different culture were very rare to find when they were starting to be published. After many years, you could find books about many different cultures and races, even their sub cultures. When children are able to see themselves and others in these diverse books about different cultures, including their own, they will not feel like they are invisible, they will learn to treat everyone equally and not exclude them or treat them differently, and they can learn more about their culture as well as others.
Children will feel invisible when they do not see books about themselves. If a child cannot find a book that has a picture of someone similar to them on the cover, they will feel as if they do not exist or matter to society. Having children’s books “that reflects the backgrounds of diverse students builds self-esteem and helps these students feel appreciated”, state Gollnick and Chinn from the article “Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Misrepresentation in Children’s Books: A Comparative Look”. Seeing diversity in books will show the children that there are books about themselves and their culture. They will get to see that everyone will have a book about himself or herself, and they will feel that they belong in society. Steiner, N...
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...e towards people of different cultures. Since our society is becoming well diverse, children get the chance to learn the ways of different cultures before shutting them out and not giving them a chance to try something new.
Therefore, it is important for children to be reflected in children’s books. Multicultural children’s book will allow the children to learn about new cultures and more importantly, their own. By learning new cultures, children will be able to apply aspects of a different culture to their life. Children will learn that everyone should be treated equally. By treating people equally, some children that feel isolated will not have to feel that way. Since everyone will be seen as the equals, there will not be the stereotype that women can be cannot be the strong lead of a book. They will also gain self-esteem and learn that they matter to society.
I agree with her outlook on her daughter's pre-school Cultural Diversity Day. Susan repeatedly tells her daughter's teacher that they are 100% American. Susan was born in America, as was her husband and their daughter as well. Teaching young children about where they came from at such a young age simply confuses them. I believe that you should let them grow up and get used to the way that American culture is before parents or teachers start shoving all these ideas into their heads. My main question is why is it necessary to teach children that they are different from their friends? On page 92 Konig states, “Later in the month, Miss Laura admits that her class is not quite getting the whole skin-color thing. ``I tried to show them how we all have different skin,'' she chuckled. Apparently, little Henry is the only one who successfully grasped the concept. He now runs around the classroom announcing to anyone who'll listen, ``I'm white!'' Miss Laura asked the children what color her own skin was. (She is a light-skinned Hispanic, which would make her skin color . . . what? Caramel? Mochaccino?). The kids opted for purple or orange. ``They looked at me like I was crazy!'' Miss Laura said. I just smile.” Young children don’t ...
This book talk about the physical apperience of race. I like the fact that it was openly hounest about how society look at interracial couples. I also find it to be inerresting to introduce the fact that people are different to kids while they are young. This book gave the impression that mix children have wild sandy red color looking hair. When a child read this book it will teach them the difference but also open their mind to understand that everyone is different but they are still people. We are all unique in our own way.
Race, and the implications that it places upon a literary series, is pertinent to the understanding of a given text. Simply because a series features more than one racial demographic does not exempt it from racial critiquing; such is the case with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. By taking into account the number of characters that represent different minority demographics and the plot lines that encompass each of these individuals, it becomes apparent that Rowling strove to be inclusive as she was writing the series. However, because of the limited amount of racial diversity incorporated into the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, in addition to the limited plot lines surrounding each of these characters, it can be argued that each serves the purpose of being simply a token addition to the story. Tokenism can be defined as “the practice of doing something only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly” (Webster). The inclusion of token characters brings forth, in retrospect, no advancement to the plot and serves only to further reinforce ethnic and racial stereotypes in the minds of children and young adults that read Harry’s story.
As we see in books like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the government seem to take control and censor what people know and believe. Many lessons are not only taught in fictional literature, but can also be found in real life situations. Without prime uses of imagination, the youth of today might grow up lacking an essential elements in their development. Researchers have found that the use of imagination by a child is essential to their development. These scientists say that children 's cognitive development is largely factored upon the child 's imagination and creative abilities. With district censorship, one is only left to ponder the ignorance of the school system. The district believes that some books are not “school friendly” because they teach children about animals who talk, mythical beings, and far off places that are simply figments of the imagination. To the ill-informed, the stories give children an unrealistic sense of r...
Discrimination is a disease; a sickness that has plagued American society for hundreds of years. It can be seen and experienced everywhere. The slandering of people because of their ethnic background, religion, or social status. Why is there discrimination in the world? Hate, envy, racism, selfishness; these traits are not instinctive, rather, they are learned. It does not matter where anti-social traits are initially experienced, whether it is found in the home, or school, or even in the nursery, the results are the same. Children that are exposed to discrimination at an early age could have a propensity towards violent behavior as they mature. Children must be shown that discriminatory behavior is not acceptable, and traits, such as compassion, are acceptable. Too many children today are left alone or unsupervised by guardians and parents. In today’s society, it is a common trend for both the mother and father to work. Young children are many times left in the care of schools, friends, neighbors, and relatives. In these cases children behave in ways that imitate real life. Discrimination can be found almost anywhere. Television, tabloids, and especially the news, reveal discrimination on a daily basis. Writers use the theme of discrimination to reflect the harshness of the world; the true nature of man is to degrade those that are different. But through compassion and understanding one can rise above the fascist views life has impinged on us. Black Boy, by Richard Wright, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain serve as good examples of how one can rise above discrimination and catch a glimpse of a world of equality.
In “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, the narrator attempts to understand the relationship between humans and nature and finds herself concluding that they are intertwined due to humans’ underlying need to take away from nature, whether through the act of poetic imagination or through the exploitation and contamination of nature. Bishop’s view of nature changes from one where it is an unknown, mysterious, and fearful presence that is antagonistic, to one that characterizes nature as being resilient when faced against harm and often victimized by people. Mary Oliver’s poem also titled “The Fish” offers a response to Bishop’s idea that people are harming nature, by providing another reason as to why people are harming nature, which is due to how people are unable to view nature as something that exists and goes beyond the purpose of serving human needs and offers a different interpretation of the relationship between man and nature. Oliver believes that nature serves as subsidence for humans, both physically and spiritually. Unlike Bishop who finds peace through understanding her role in nature’s plight and acceptance at the merging between the natural and human worlds, Oliver finds that through the literal act of consuming nature can she obtain a form of empowerment that allows her to become one with nature.
When people think of Dr. Seuss, they think; “Oh, the cat with the spontaneous black and white hat” or the author who wrote books about moral values and created art pieces that expressed politics. Dr. Seuss wrote children’s books not only to open up a child’s imagination about a fantastical world full of new words, creatures, and experiences, but also about eye opening issues. He promoted the importance of racial equality and other political issues, as well as the enduring hardships of life through his literature. Books like The Sneetches, The Lorax, I had trouble in getting to solla sollew and Oh, The Places You’ll Go! , are just a few of the many books Dr. Seuss wrote, but each of these books had a hidden moral message that could change the way people think. Seuss incorporated valuable lessons about everyday struggles in his books, and in doing so allowed readers to think and reevaluate their beliefs and make better choices about their lives.
One of the main issues that has been a result of representing the under-represented in children’s literature is essentialism. Essentialism is the idea that members of a specific ethnic group should be the only ones to represent their culture in literature because they will give an accurate portrayal of their culture. Essentialism is a very sensitive issue because whole cultures are being represented and those cultures do not want their ethnic group to be portrayed in a negative manner. Furthermore, while essentialism is a matter of opinion and personal beliefs there is one novel that gives a good account as to why essentialism may be preferable to most audiences. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang is a novel that displays stereotypical images of Asians and shows how three main characters
When looking at why multiculturalism in school and classroom libraries it is important to understand why there is the need. According to Ruth A. Oswald and Lynn Atkinson Smolen have multicultural books is “timely” because of the “increasing diversity in our schools”. According to the National Center of Education Statistics (2010), 45 percent of U.S. public school population enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade comes from diverse racial and ethnic background” (Multicultural Literature and Response: Affirming Diverse Voices pg.xi). Educators want to help develop children become empathic, understanding, and tolerant adults, by doing these things educators hope to lessen bullying and
For my research project I chose the topic of Racism in Children's Literature. I chose this area of study because it is something that bothers me and I know as a child in school I was very uncomfortable with assignments that dealt with racism. One day I would like to make a difference to all the people who are affected by racism. My hypothesis states that if educators are better trained to deal with the delicate subject of racism in children's literature, books would not be banned, yet actually teach the lesson the authors of these books intended for all of us to learn.
Whether it's about your looks, the way you dress, your skin color, or who you are seen with. “The Flowers” by Alice Walker shows what the worlds actions and thoughts on skin color can do to someone. As a child you are as carefree as can be, without one care about what's happening in the world. Because, you live in your own special world. Myop’s world is the path in the woods she always took until she strayed from the path. “She had often been as far before, but the strangeness of the land made it not as pleasant as her usual haunts” (Walker 1). She's started to explore the world around her as do most children do once they start to grow older. However, exploring the world can have some consequences. Myop at a young age finds "Very near where she'd stepped into the head was a wild pink rose. As she picked it to add to her bundle she noticed a raised mound, a ring, around the rose's root. It was the rotted remains of a noose, a bit of shredding plowline, now blending benignly into the soil...Myop laid down her flowers” (Walker 1). Seeing that slave dead is the product of what society does to colored people. Teaching her that the world wasn't as colorful as she thought it was. That she’ll never be treated equally because of her color ruining her innocent view on the world. Giving her a negative view on society and losing her hope in it ever improving. “And the summer was over” (Walker
As an early childhood educator, I have a responsibility to create an inclusive, diversified and culturally supportive learning environment for these children. For example, generally there would be a wide range of different languages within a classroom. Providing literature in different languages will expand the children’s idea of diversity and will get them thinking about the differences or similarities between others. Books about other cultures, ethnic groups, and geographic regions build interest and inform the reader beyond his or her immediate ¬experience. For these reasons, children’s books that portray diversity are an essential part of any early childhood
For this assignment I chose to review the book Shades of Black by Sandra Pinkney and illustrated by Myles Pinkney. This book was published in January of 2006 by Cartwheel Books. This book teaches young children about the differences in culture, and how there is not one stereotype to being black. Black men and woman can be several shades, have several eye colors, ect., and still love their self. This book teaches children to recognize differences amongst other people, and not exclude them because they are different. This story is a great multicultural literature choice for children aged 3-10, pointing out physical challenges in an honest and positive way. This book gives very clear descriptions of ethnic customs and clothing throughout the book
In ever-changing times, it is important to look to the future in order to prepare for what is to come. However, it is also important to look back and see what people have accomplished. It is essential for people to feel pride for the triumphs, and determination to improve the shortcomings. This way, there will always be room for positive growth. Researchers of multicultural literature, Jocelyn Glazier and Jung-A Seo, have defined this denomination of literature “as literature that represents voices typically omitted from the traditional canon”(Buss). Multiculturalism and multicultural literature have grown from the histories of numerous nations, all hoping to better integrate and understand each other, exposing people to other ethnic and cultural groups. It is hoped that once people know where others come from, how they think, and what drives them, they will be capable of sympathizing with different groups and ending the prejudice and discrimination that is so prevalent in modern society. As the United States moves forward, it becomes more and more pluralistic. The traditional majorities and minorities continue to shift according to the influences of multiculturalism and diversity (Multiculturalism). Many educators recognize that in order for children to function in a diverse culture, they must be taught from a young age through literature. Books are an excellent way to convey information because a well written piece of intelligence can have a powerful effect on people’s minds. James A. Banks of the University of Washington devised a strategy for the teaching of young people. In it, he discusses a multipronged plan that begins with general content integration. Students must be given sensitive, non-biased information that include...
Our misconception of a particular race, country or culture often leads us into the danger of not knowing the legitimate truth. These misconceptions are habitually created by our nature of merely eavesdropping any news, stories or feeds and blindly accepting them as the truth. Chimamanda Adichie explains well the extremity of this danger that we are being led by this one-sided belief in “The Danger of the Single Story.” In this well-constructed discourse, Adichie related several examples including those of her own experiences as a child and immigrant to a new country. She recalls how being introduced to books with just white/blue-eyed characters as a child had led her into the misconception that they were the only ones that existed. But things