When reading children’s books, I never really even thought of the diversity of each book but now that I have read these two articles, I realize how important it is.
In Brian Pinkney’s “Here I am!” article, he brings up the differences in children’s books that use a white character or black character as their front cover illustration. Before reading this article I never really though much of it. I just picked up a book no matter what it looked like and began reading it. But now I understand how it makes children feel when they look at the cover of that book. I loved the point that Pinkney made when he was talking about “Where The Wild Things Are”. He said, “He was me, and I was him. I saw myself through his adventures, not through his skin color.” I completely agree that no matter what skin color or ethnicity, every kid should feel important when it comes to reading books.
In the article “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” I really loved how the author explained how literature and books are like mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors. In this article I found another point that surprised me because I really hadn’t thought of it before. So many books are “white-people based” (if that makes any sense) and so many ethnicities (Native American, African American, Asian, etc.) are learning to read but don’t have anything to compare themselves to or find themselves in a book.
When I become a teacher, I will read books from many different cultures so my students can understand how important each culture and ethnicity is in our world. Like the second article said, “Our classrooms need to be places where all children from all the cultures that make up the salad bowl of American Society can find their mirrors.”
tessabenson 