This semester has taught me a lot about how to find, judge, and review childrens literature to be a fair and positive experience to all children in my future classes. Learning more things in this class has made it not only more difficult to choose books but also more rewarding in the end.
I am left with lingering questions on how to tackle the often monumentous task of knowing enough to make sure the literature I will provide children in my classes is truly a positive expression of all different peoples. How will I ever have the time and resources to research these groups and stereotypes? Hopefully relying on outside sources who've been proven reliable, will be able to help me move through this difficulty.
I have really enjoyed experiencing the literature throughout the semester and I realize that these experiences will help me to share a similar future experience with them. I know more now on how it feels to tackle some of the tough and tricky questions about diversity and multicultural groups. I Think that this course has greatly improved my knowledge in this area and its been a great experience! I would recommend all future educators attempt to educate themselves this same way.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
GLBTQ collection review
GLBTQ children’s literature, gay lesbian bisexual transgender queer/questioning children’s literature, is an important genre to include. Some figures estimate that about one in ten American’s are queer, knowing this that means that there are a lot of people who are themselves queer or who may have lesbian or gay friends and family. It is so important that all children feel accepted through books not only for the way they look but also for the things they live and feel. As a set this collection does not even begin to make a dent in the long list of things GLBTQ literature has tried to conquer, most importantly non of the books in this collection have featured transgender characters which I do regret. Also these books give a limited look in the picture books to breaking outside of sometimes stereotypical portrayals and balancing these with more subtle characters, which are still very difficult to find. The two children’s books I chose were first and foremost a set with both gay family members and then proto-gay characters; they also were one representing a relationship between two women and two men. The reason I chose the young adult literature I did was because both are fairly widely available to actually purchase for a classroom or library but they also have a balance between characters of different sexual orientations. This to me meant the book could be relatable for more teens today, both those who are queer and those who are not. I also chose books that showed the teen characters struggling with realistic issues because most teens do have something they struggle with in their own way, a book that shows them they are not alone might reach out to them to help them through the tough times. Through all of the books I hope to show that queer literature does not only need to appeal to a queer audience, but it appeals to all audiences. I hope that more and more places will become open to the inclusion and teaching of such collections in schools across the country.
GLBTQ collection: Queering the Picture Book
This article appeared in the journal "The Lion and the Unicorn".
This article by Melynda Huskey is an open and honest critical look at the world of GLBTQ children’s literature. The article draws on others works and words to make an honest and open statement about the way queer is represented in the books that exist today. Many of these books are not really child friendly, and if they are they lack truly great literary merits and spend too much time preaching. I thought that it was a great comparison made of this literature to the ubiquitous very strict Christian books where the story is lost in the moral of it all. I think that this is a really important story to make because while it could teach the lesson and proper terms and break a million stereotypes if a child stops listening because it bores them the message is lost. On the other hand if a book subtly includes portrayals that could be queer but tells a great story without really focusing on that queer definition a child could learn that they love this story and the character as they are, even if they don’t specifically realize the character is supposed to be gay or lesbian. The review also noted the book I chose to include in my collection “Chester’s Way” by Kevin Henkes as being a book that took a very obviously queer character and put them in a story without ever telling anyone that it was a gay mouse. This “proto-gay” character could be both stereotypical but if well balanced with other literature it could also be the beginning of a shift needed in these books. As a critical reviewer I felt that Ms. Huskey made excellent points about the fact that since being queer is only a sexual orientation it is not a race, a personality, or a visible thing; books feel they need to shout the point to readers. They think that if not it will simply be passed over by readers, but if a reader and an educator takes the time to teach these diverse values a book that simply allows queerness to be present in the novel will teach just as strongly.
Huskey, Melynda. "Queering The Picture Book." The Lion and the Unicorn 26.1(2002): 66-77.
This article by Melynda Huskey is an open and honest critical look at the world of GLBTQ children’s literature. The article draws on others works and words to make an honest and open statement about the way queer is represented in the books that exist today. Many of these books are not really child friendly, and if they are they lack truly great literary merits and spend too much time preaching. I thought that it was a great comparison made of this literature to the ubiquitous very strict Christian books where the story is lost in the moral of it all. I think that this is a really important story to make because while it could teach the lesson and proper terms and break a million stereotypes if a child stops listening because it bores them the message is lost. On the other hand if a book subtly includes portrayals that could be queer but tells a great story without really focusing on that queer definition a child could learn that they love this story and the character as they are, even if they don’t specifically realize the character is supposed to be gay or lesbian. The review also noted the book I chose to include in my collection “Chester’s Way” by Kevin Henkes as being a book that took a very obviously queer character and put them in a story without ever telling anyone that it was a gay mouse. This “proto-gay” character could be both stereotypical but if well balanced with other literature it could also be the beginning of a shift needed in these books. As a critical reviewer I felt that Ms. Huskey made excellent points about the fact that since being queer is only a sexual orientation it is not a race, a personality, or a visible thing; books feel they need to shout the point to readers. They think that if not it will simply be passed over by readers, but if a reader and an educator takes the time to teach these diverse values a book that simply allows queerness to be present in the novel will teach just as strongly.
Huskey, Melynda. "Queering The Picture Book." The Lion and the Unicorn 26.1(2002): 66-77.
GLBTQ collection: The Realm of Possiblity
Sometimes books stand out from the crowd; this book seems to be on a new level. Not many teen novels today are written in prose, poems, and songs. This book appeals differently in that not all students will enjoy it, to teach it in a class it might be easier to treat the novel like short stories and not cover the whole book. AS a personal read this book is introspective, and at the same time inter-spective giving a great glimpse into the way another teen looks at the world. This book follows multiple characters by giving a glimpse of their thoughts, feelings, and hearing a story or two that they have to tell. This novel not only is a great tool for getting more student interested in poetry but also for reaching out to students who don’t always seem to connect to traditional poetry but have a lot of potential of their own. The stories I found to be very realistic and cover a lot of issues that teens do face today from relationships, to peer pressure, teasing, bullying, and eating disorders. A book that confronts these issues head on like this becomes a great mirror and window for students to look at themselves and their peers. As a teacher or mentor or friend providing a student who faces one of these issues with this book could provide them a bridge to start dealing with their own problems.
Embedded in all of the social issues are the blurred gender roles in relationships that exist for teens in all relationships but also we see examples of boys with girls, boys with boys, and girls with crushes on the girl the boy got. Showing the spectrum of sexuality in this way matches the progressive view that a lot of people are taking today in knowing that people cannot always fit in one category or another and with the stepping forward and bravery people have had in the LBGTQ community it has allowed all people to recognize their preferences. Scientists and researchers realize that not all people will always pick men over women or have completely equal feelings for both, these stories showed that ambiguity. For a person, especially a teen facing their adulthood, pressures, and sexuality all while balancing school and family and friends this novel can really feel real. The novel never seems to make race a specific story focus but it can be seen through a diversity of names (not everyone is Jane Smith) and personalities lends to students picturing the characters however they best relate to them.
This book would be a great addition to libraries and recommended reading lists for all teens, no matter their gender or sexual desires. The realism of the subjects and the amount of GLBTQ content would make this book controversial to many people. I feel it is important to understand that many parents would worry that such content could “suggest” negative ideas to the students. I find its equally important to point out that aware of it or not many things go on in high schools across the country that are not perfect and parent friendly, if a book can show kids that it relates to that on a real level they can actually find their own issues on that same real level. All of this diversity, artistic beauty, uniqueness, and realism make this an excellent addition to diverse library collections.
Levithan, David. The Realm of Possibitlity. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
Embedded in all of the social issues are the blurred gender roles in relationships that exist for teens in all relationships but also we see examples of boys with girls, boys with boys, and girls with crushes on the girl the boy got. Showing the spectrum of sexuality in this way matches the progressive view that a lot of people are taking today in knowing that people cannot always fit in one category or another and with the stepping forward and bravery people have had in the LBGTQ community it has allowed all people to recognize their preferences. Scientists and researchers realize that not all people will always pick men over women or have completely equal feelings for both, these stories showed that ambiguity. For a person, especially a teen facing their adulthood, pressures, and sexuality all while balancing school and family and friends this novel can really feel real. The novel never seems to make race a specific story focus but it can be seen through a diversity of names (not everyone is Jane Smith) and personalities lends to students picturing the characters however they best relate to them.
This book would be a great addition to libraries and recommended reading lists for all teens, no matter their gender or sexual desires. The realism of the subjects and the amount of GLBTQ content would make this book controversial to many people. I feel it is important to understand that many parents would worry that such content could “suggest” negative ideas to the students. I find its equally important to point out that aware of it or not many things go on in high schools across the country that are not perfect and parent friendly, if a book can show kids that it relates to that on a real level they can actually find their own issues on that same real level. All of this diversity, artistic beauty, uniqueness, and realism make this an excellent addition to diverse library collections.
Levithan, David. The Realm of Possibitlity. New York City: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
GLBTQ collection: Geography Club
This is a novel written for young adults that teaches about how hard it can sometimes be to figure out how you fit into the world. The story is set in a smaller sized town, in the heartland of the USA. This wholesome place has a town preacher active in making himself heard and not a lot of diversity to respond back. The story is told from the eyes of a boy named Russel who is struggling to find a place for the personality that people see and the person he hides inside fearing it could ruin his life. Russel is gay and until this novel thought he was the only one in the whole town. Throughout the story he finds courage to come out to friends and together with the help of friends old and new they form a club where they can get together and safely speak about the struggles they all face feeling they cannot be true to themselves around other people. This book would be great inspiration for students who often feel like they have trouble fitting in.
As a piece of diverse text this book does a good job of breaking many stereotypes that could be held about those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The gay boys we meet range the spectrum from smart nerds to baseball players breaking the stereotype that gay men are effeminate all the time. They do make the one lesbian character a female athlete but her girl friend is a bisexual, who also happens to be the smartest girl at the school. The way they add this diversity struck me as more realistic in the way they admitted all of them had nothing really in common except that they were not strictly heterosexual people. This could be a great way to introduce the idea to students who hold this stereotype of “gay” meaning a certain personality, but it also helps more readers to find a character to which they might identify on a personal level. In looking at the novel I do not find a large diversity in race nor do I find racial stereotypes so as a piece of diverse text referring to sexual orientations it is a very good work but it does not offer much on other groups that are often missing from other literature. This book could be taught in high school classrooms but because of some awkward moments and sexuality I feel that some middle school students would not be prepared to cover it in a class setting. Despite the inclusion of kissing moments and other mild sexuality I feel that this book would really help many high school and middle school students who struggle with themselves and give them the courage to realize that making yourself happy will always feel better than faking it to be popular.
Hartinger, Brent. Geography Club. 1st. New York City: HarperCollins, 2003.
As a piece of diverse text this book does a good job of breaking many stereotypes that could be held about those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The gay boys we meet range the spectrum from smart nerds to baseball players breaking the stereotype that gay men are effeminate all the time. They do make the one lesbian character a female athlete but her girl friend is a bisexual, who also happens to be the smartest girl at the school. The way they add this diversity struck me as more realistic in the way they admitted all of them had nothing really in common except that they were not strictly heterosexual people. This could be a great way to introduce the idea to students who hold this stereotype of “gay” meaning a certain personality, but it also helps more readers to find a character to which they might identify on a personal level. In looking at the novel I do not find a large diversity in race nor do I find racial stereotypes so as a piece of diverse text referring to sexual orientations it is a very good work but it does not offer much on other groups that are often missing from other literature. This book could be taught in high school classrooms but because of some awkward moments and sexuality I feel that some middle school students would not be prepared to cover it in a class setting. Despite the inclusion of kissing moments and other mild sexuality I feel that this book would really help many high school and middle school students who struggle with themselves and give them the courage to realize that making yourself happy will always feel better than faking it to be popular.
Hartinger, Brent. Geography Club. 1st. New York City: HarperCollins, 2003.
GLBTQ collection: Chester's Way
This is another picture book aimed at young children, though it would be appropriate for slightly older children in early elementary school. The book has great illustrations however more text than many primary picture books, this could lose children’s attention spans. The main characters of the story are a pair of young mice named Chester and Wilson, who are best friends but aren’t always interested in the things other little boy mice are. The purpose of this text was not to portray the mice as gay males because as children it isn’t a relationship in that sense but a close friendship that shows subtle clues teaching children it is ok to be different. The story also introduces a female character Lilly, who teaches lessons about not judging someone by the way the look. This text offers a combination of narration and quotation which gives a fun opportunity to read with different voices for each character or to have children take different roles to read together.
As a piece of diverse literature the book stands out as a unique opportunity for teachers and parents alike; because it never introduces the boys or any other characters as being gay it is a much more widely available and accepted book. If you use it as a beginning resource among other texts showing that its ok for two boys to hold hands, cuddle, and be different from other little boys is a great lesson to teach. If a young child, who may not really realize that being gay is different or wrong yet, can see these things they like doing in a book it helps them avoid ever feeling the need to hide their emotions and actions in the first place. In the article I’ve written about also on this site they discuss the importance of these types of characters in books. You do not always need a book to scream out labels and information to students, let the actions speak louder to the children than the words. The one thing to be careful of in using this book is that in some ways it could be seen as stereotypical of portraying gay men to be less “masculine” than other straight men. While as long as this message is balanced by other books I feel it could make this impression less strong for students, if this was the only book shown that included any same sex relationships or different relationships at all it would defiantly give a biased view. Keeping this in mind I still think it is an important addition to a truly diverse library for its subtle and completely inclusive attitude towards different relationships and habits, and it teaches the important lesson of accepting new people.
Henkes, Kevin. Chester's Way. 1st. New York City: Greenwillow Books, 1988.
As a piece of diverse literature the book stands out as a unique opportunity for teachers and parents alike; because it never introduces the boys or any other characters as being gay it is a much more widely available and accepted book. If you use it as a beginning resource among other texts showing that its ok for two boys to hold hands, cuddle, and be different from other little boys is a great lesson to teach. If a young child, who may not really realize that being gay is different or wrong yet, can see these things they like doing in a book it helps them avoid ever feeling the need to hide their emotions and actions in the first place. In the article I’ve written about also on this site they discuss the importance of these types of characters in books. You do not always need a book to scream out labels and information to students, let the actions speak louder to the children than the words. The one thing to be careful of in using this book is that in some ways it could be seen as stereotypical of portraying gay men to be less “masculine” than other straight men. While as long as this message is balanced by other books I feel it could make this impression less strong for students, if this was the only book shown that included any same sex relationships or different relationships at all it would defiantly give a biased view. Keeping this in mind I still think it is an important addition to a truly diverse library for its subtle and completely inclusive attitude towards different relationships and habits, and it teaches the important lesson of accepting new people.
Henkes, Kevin. Chester's Way. 1st. New York City: Greenwillow Books, 1988.
GLBTQ collection: Mama Eat Ant, Yuck!
This book is a picture book designed for young children, keeping this fact in mind the audience will affect the measures I looked at in the book. To get right to the point this novel is the humorous tale of a family with two moms, one of whom happens to swallow an ant. The book is centered around the repeated phrase “ Mama eat ant, yuck!” which is a great tool to gain involvement from younger readers by asking them to help fill in the phrase with you. The illustrations are large and colorful and would be attractive to children as well, and I find them very age appropriate. The book is a good length of text making it versatile for a broader age group but not so much as to lose young readers who get bored during long explanations. I would defiantly recommend this as a fun story both to share in a classroom setting as well as at home for students.
Looking now more specifically at how this book functions as a piece of GLBTQ ( Gay, lesbian, bisexual,transgender, queer/questioning) literature as well as a piece of diverse literature in general, I feel there are specific issues to look at. The book introduces the family structure through both pictures and in the first sentences “The children call me Mama and my sweetheart is called Mommy.” This simple introduction helps to point out to young readers what might be a difference between the story and their own family but it does not spend too much time lingering or “teaching” about this. Since the book is aimed at very young readers it would be hard for them to stay interested if the book always paused to teach. Another perspective to this is that for children who have two mommies or daddies they do not always need this explained over and over, it’s reassuring in a way to just have a book that makes them part of the ever elusive “normal” that we see in books. As a general piece of diverse literature I felt the illustrator Matthew Daniele put a lot of effort into subtly breaking stereotypes and being inclusive to other races and often underrepresented groups. The illustrations feature a range of skin tones on the characters, a female truck driver bending the gender stereotype, and children in wheelchairs that are enjoying a game of basketball in the park. With very young children, whom are targeted in this book, simply including a diverse cast of characters helps open their eyes and minds to differences without losing them to only books that teach about one culture or group of people at a time. The only thing that I did notice is that the character we know as Mommy is pictured to be more masculine in the relationship and I do worry that this could purvey a stereotype that all same-sex couples will have a more masculine and more feminine role still. For that reason I feel this is only a small part of the lessons that books can help to teach children about families. When looking for a great book to share with a class of children that begins to expose them to diverse families I would defiantly recommend this work. I think the author and illustrator have taken care to make a great book for children.
Edmonds, Barbara. Mama Eat Aunt, Yuck!. Eugene, OR: Hundreth Munchy Publications, 2000.
Looking now more specifically at how this book functions as a piece of GLBTQ ( Gay, lesbian, bisexual,transgender, queer/questioning) literature as well as a piece of diverse literature in general, I feel there are specific issues to look at. The book introduces the family structure through both pictures and in the first sentences “The children call me Mama and my sweetheart is called Mommy.” This simple introduction helps to point out to young readers what might be a difference between the story and their own family but it does not spend too much time lingering or “teaching” about this. Since the book is aimed at very young readers it would be hard for them to stay interested if the book always paused to teach. Another perspective to this is that for children who have two mommies or daddies they do not always need this explained over and over, it’s reassuring in a way to just have a book that makes them part of the ever elusive “normal” that we see in books. As a general piece of diverse literature I felt the illustrator Matthew Daniele put a lot of effort into subtly breaking stereotypes and being inclusive to other races and often underrepresented groups. The illustrations feature a range of skin tones on the characters, a female truck driver bending the gender stereotype, and children in wheelchairs that are enjoying a game of basketball in the park. With very young children, whom are targeted in this book, simply including a diverse cast of characters helps open their eyes and minds to differences without losing them to only books that teach about one culture or group of people at a time. The only thing that I did notice is that the character we know as Mommy is pictured to be more masculine in the relationship and I do worry that this could purvey a stereotype that all same-sex couples will have a more masculine and more feminine role still. For that reason I feel this is only a small part of the lessons that books can help to teach children about families. When looking for a great book to share with a class of children that begins to expose them to diverse families I would defiantly recommend this work. I think the author and illustrator have taken care to make a great book for children.
Edmonds, Barbara. Mama Eat Aunt, Yuck!. Eugene, OR: Hundreth Munchy Publications, 2000.
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