Understand The Importance Of Diversity In Children's Literature

My first awareness of racial identity and diversity occurred when I was in Year 3. Having being raised acknowledging acceptance of people of racial or cultural difference my thoughts of children of colour were positive and impartial. However, one day a boy in my class of Sri Lankan descent got into trouble with another student, but only the Sri Lankan boy was asked to go to the principal’s office. During our lunch break he came over to a group of us and told us that he thought he was the one that got into trouble ‘because he was ‘black’’. I remember thinking to myself, ‘why would he get into trouble just because he was black?’ It was in fact that both boys

Koss. This article discussed the highlights of the 2015 Children's Literature Assembly, which focussed mostly on the need and importance of books revolving around and about diversity. The article mentioned that all children need to be able to see themselves represented in books. If a child can not find a book that they relate to or feel represented in, it can have a negative impact on their self-image. When a child reads a book and can see themselves in a character, it shows the child that they are not alone and that there are other people just like them. The article mentioned that diversity in books is crucial because it teaches children about other people and their different situations. Books featuring diversity also makes sure that children read out of their comfort

Another interesting trend in children’s literature is mixing of genres, such as mixing cartoons and novels, which may be

For years now, censoring has been limiting the public’s freedom in literature, films, media, and plenty of other categories. A big section being censored today, that troubles a lot of people, is children’s literature. Books are the most common thing to be censored, especially children’s. They continue to ban books across the world, meant to be enjoyed, for reasons they call valid. A popular excuse for banning books is the diversity displayed in them. According to “How Banning Books Marginalizes Children”, 52% of the books banned in the last 10 years were called “diverse context”

. Captivated by the trials of others’ encounters, the reader finds hope in his own life. For some, books are an escape. He is able to disappear into a new world, with different lives, and extreme or sometimes even similar situations. However, his real world problems are still ever-present. In Sherman Alexie’s article, “Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood,” he claims that many

Brooks and McNair (2009) begin their essay by pointing out that in children’s literature rarely are main characters African American and written by African American authors. Several African American authors were rejected by publishers because their work did not fit the publisher’s idea of what an African American family should look like. One unfortunate example of this is when a publisher wanted the father to be edited out of a story written by an African American. The author had to fight for the right to keep the father in the story. Stories like this are common for African American authors. African Americans have been marginalized in children’s literature when they are omitted and stereotyped.

Many pieces of literature are written each year, and each year dedicated high school students come together to read any type of literature ranging from plays, poetry, graphic novels to podcasts. Out of all the pieces of literature the students read, the students will debate which piece they believe is best. Once all these pieces are chosen, an anthology is created, “The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2014”. In the introduction of this book, Lemony Snicket claims, “the most passionate and interesting pieces of writing divide a literary team” (Snicket xii). Literary pieces divide people in their opinions since the pieces allow readers to interpret the pieces differently and gives the readers a sense of mystery.

Christopher Myers is an author and illustrator of the children’s books. In his article “ The Apartheid of Children’s Literature” he quoted the study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin, which describes that out of the 3,200 children’s books published last year, just 93 books were written about black people and characters. According to the text, the article transmits the values of the children’s books and how the diversity plays an important role in the books. The main argument that the authors argued is a dearth of the characters of colors in the children’s literature. Also, the author’s point of view has been concentrated on kid’s self-esteem and self-worth. He called this the ‘mirror’ and the ‘map’ functions of literature. By using this comparison, he claims that kids unable to recognize themselves in the story and don’t see their future possibilities.

Earlier in the semester, the class was introduced to topics such as politics within Children’s Literature and learning how to be cultural critics. Both topics generated discussion that was centered around the contributions that were made within Children’s Literature and how they could deepen young reader’s understanding of the content presented to them in children books. I believe the book “The Sneetches and Other Stories” by Dr. Seuss would’ve been a great addition to the class’ reading list. In this book, Dr. Seuss discussed topics such as discrimination, prejudice, acceptance, and tolerance which are all topics people wouldn’t think are suitable for a children’s book. The themes were used as underlying messages throughout the story and the illustration presented a visual to readers, so that they could have a clear understanding of what Dr. Seuss was writing. The importance of the message was to bring awareness to the issues that are present within society.

Having students read multicultural books are not only a great way to expand there knowledge, but it's also a great way to teach them important history periods by reading a book with a story. Giving students specific books to read will give them the opportunity to learn specific events without having to teach them with a textbook or lectures. In source D it explains about how children with the knowledge of multicultural books have better skills of their language and intensify their imagination skills.. It says, “For past three decades, researchers have continued to affirm that culturally authentic children's literature engages the imagination and enhances the language skills.” (source D).

It is on a very basic level imperative that those forming the creation and spread of kids' books have the information and social instinct required when working with content (Crisp, 1, 2010). In the event that the writer and artist of a book are not the scarcest worried with the significant absence of multicultural books for kids then nothing will change. It is vital that creators and artists turn out to be firmly mindful of the requirement for change in youngsters' writing. On the off chance that they start to make books with substance that shows thankfulness for all races, ethnicities and skin tones…

Most children are reading fantasy books to entertain them and inspire their creative minds. From history up to today books are more appealing to children due to the entertainment aspect and pictures to draw children in the book. Today teaching a child or entertaining a child with the content in the book is separated most children’s books. Although this concept of teaching and entertaining can overlap when the author puts both together in a book even without seeming so. An author such as White using fantasy in the book Charlotte's Web allows him to teach a coming of age story for a target age without necessarily seeming to.

In chapter 11 of Essentials, we looked at literature for a diverse society. The chapter stressed the importance of education for students that is multicultural and intercultural, and culturally critical. It states that children literature allows for this by providing the opportunity to immerse oneself in a story and gain insight into how people feel, live and think (p.215). One Green Apple is an exemplary example of this as it is told from the perspective of a young immigrant who speaks no English and is

There is no doubt that certain books children read are made especially for boys or for girls. Like any developmental form of entertainment, from toys to movies, children's books are often littered with hints that dictate whether they were originally meant for male or female enjoyment. Sometimes these hints can be as simple as the specific gender of the main characters, for example Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew series calls for a female audience while the extremely similar yet sexually opposite Hardy Boys mysteries fall into the hands of boys, yet other times more important factors decide who the book will best be suited for. Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and Katherine Patersons's The Great Gilly Hopkins are books for a boy and a

Multicultural literature is a way of increasing cultural awareness. Through multicultural books many young readers are able to make a connection with their own culture