Books as Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors
Donation protected
Hi, friend! I’m raising money to buy diverse books for my children's preschool. The books I will purchase will be books which highlight main characters who have diverse cultures, who are ethnically diverse, and who have different abilities. This preschool serves children from 6 weeks old to 6 years old — crucial years in a child's development. We all know how important books are, but what about the importance of diverse books? During these early years children are developing a sense of self and a sense of their world. We need to make sure our children's classrooms reflect our world’s diversity.
As you can see, in all the children’s books published in the US in 2018, 77% of books had main characters that were white or animals/others. Think back to the books you read in school. Who were the main characters? Our children deserve to see themselves, other cultures, and different abilities equally represented – and celebrated – in books.
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, “Mother” of multicultural children’s literature and professor of education, explained, “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”
Dr. Sims Bishop detailed the importance of all children reading diverse books. “Children from dominant social groups have always found their mirrors in books, but they, too, have suffered from the lack of availability of books about others. They need the books as windows onto reality, not just on imaginary worlds. They need books that will help them understand the multicultural nature of the world they live in, and their place as a member of just one group, as well as their connections to all other humans. In this country, where racism is still one of the major unresolved social problems, books may be one of the few places where children who are socially isolated and insulated from the larger world may meet people unlike themselves. If they see only reflections of themselves, they will grow up with an exaggerated sense of their own importance and value in the world- a dangerous ethnocentrism.”
News stories, which are only exposing the hateful actions that still exist in our communities, have continued to leave me utterly heartbroken. No parent (or loved one) should ever have to worry about the safety of their child (or loved one) because of their skin color, and if we could possibly prevent hate, pain, and fear through books — we must try. As a mother, a teacher, a Christian, and a human being, I know we have to end this. We can start by intentionally providing the next generation diverse books. From dual-language board books for babies to alphabet books celebrating foods from around the world, these books will highlight other cultures and life experiences from the earliest of ages.
#WeNeedDiverseBooks
As you can see, in all the children’s books published in the US in 2018, 77% of books had main characters that were white or animals/others. Think back to the books you read in school. Who were the main characters? Our children deserve to see themselves, other cultures, and different abilities equally represented – and celebrated – in books.
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, “Mother” of multicultural children’s literature and professor of education, explained, “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”
Dr. Sims Bishop detailed the importance of all children reading diverse books. “Children from dominant social groups have always found their mirrors in books, but they, too, have suffered from the lack of availability of books about others. They need the books as windows onto reality, not just on imaginary worlds. They need books that will help them understand the multicultural nature of the world they live in, and their place as a member of just one group, as well as their connections to all other humans. In this country, where racism is still one of the major unresolved social problems, books may be one of the few places where children who are socially isolated and insulated from the larger world may meet people unlike themselves. If they see only reflections of themselves, they will grow up with an exaggerated sense of their own importance and value in the world- a dangerous ethnocentrism.”
News stories, which are only exposing the hateful actions that still exist in our communities, have continued to leave me utterly heartbroken. No parent (or loved one) should ever have to worry about the safety of their child (or loved one) because of their skin color, and if we could possibly prevent hate, pain, and fear through books — we must try. As a mother, a teacher, a Christian, and a human being, I know we have to end this. We can start by intentionally providing the next generation diverse books. From dual-language board books for babies to alphabet books celebrating foods from around the world, these books will highlight other cultures and life experiences from the earliest of ages.
#WeNeedDiverseBooks
Organizer
Maylin Tennis
Organizer
West Columbia, SC