Closely Examining Children's Literature . . .


A goal of mine in the past two years has been adding diverse books to my collection. In reading the selection by Smith-D'Arezzo and Musgrove (2011), I see there are a few more things that I need to look at when choosing books. I thought it interesting that the reader sees the story and pictures differently based on the race of the reader. This made me think back on a comment a teacher made when passing through the library at South Elementary. I had a group of books displayed on the top of a shelf. The books were new and focused on character values. The book that she pointed out was Come Clean, Carlos : Tell the Truth. The cover had a picture of a hispanic boy. The teacher said, "OK, that cover is almost funny in a bad way." She was implying that hispanics can be known for being dishonest and stealing. I certainly had never looked at it that way, but I wonder if students had. When adding titles of books so that my students can see themselves in books, I want this to be in everyday situations. I want the books to portray the children in a positive way.



When looking for books with African American children, I began to notice that there is an overwhelming amount of books about African American girls' hair. Does that need to be focused on over and over? Again, I want the books to be fun reads with everyday situations and themes. I don't want the books to yell, "Look, I'm an African American child."


I 100% agree with Harmon and Hankin (2014). We need to be reading books
with our students about bullying and bullying is a social phenomenon. It's a complex issue with no simple solution. All of the books that I have read that are along the same lines as The Hate List have huge events that change lives forever. What leads up to those events is bullying that takes place in schools. The bullying starts on a small scale in elementary school. What is difficult for the teachers is the fact that the bullying can be hard to see. I had a classic example of this in my class three years ago. A very cute, smart, and vibrant Hispanic girl was green with envy of a blond haired and blue eyed Caucasian girl. I thought the bullying was the other way around, because I could never see it. It finally came into my view. I worked with this situation for the rest of the year. It was a consistent battle.

Discussions following readings are key and I think this should be happening in schools. Many of our students lack empathy and have become desensitized. Class discussions are so important in trying to combat bullying and raise self esteem. The current state of our students scares me for their futures . . . our futures. 

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