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[CCBC-Net] Images of Families
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From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2002 08:18:51 -0600
Jennifer Locke wrote about the families in Bob Graham's books:
"The families' 'alternativeness' is not heavy-handed or even a central theme of these books but a nice and natural part of the story."
Not only do I wholeheartedly agree about how wonderful the families in Graham's books are, but I would argue that his books help push us toward erasing the very concept of "alternative" when thinking about and defining different types of families.
While "alternative" is a term that has been used historically to describe families that are not "traditional," it seems to me that we should begin to think twice about using either term, and instead focus on expanding our idea and understanding of what a loving family looks like--no adjective necessarily needed. (Of course there are times, in the interest of better serving specific library users, where we will want to know what someone is specifically looking for, be it books with same-sex parents, books featuring a bircial or multiracial family, etc.)
How well does children's literature reflect the diversity of family life that we know exists in our culture?
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Fri 08 Nov 2002 08:18:51 AM CST
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2002 08:18:51 -0600
Jennifer Locke wrote about the families in Bob Graham's books:
"The families' 'alternativeness' is not heavy-handed or even a central theme of these books but a nice and natural part of the story."
Not only do I wholeheartedly agree about how wonderful the families in Graham's books are, but I would argue that his books help push us toward erasing the very concept of "alternative" when thinking about and defining different types of families.
While "alternative" is a term that has been used historically to describe families that are not "traditional," it seems to me that we should begin to think twice about using either term, and instead focus on expanding our idea and understanding of what a loving family looks like--no adjective necessarily needed. (Of course there are times, in the interest of better serving specific library users, where we will want to know what someone is specifically looking for, be it books with same-sex parents, books featuring a bircial or multiracial family, etc.)
How well does children's literature reflect the diversity of family life that we know exists in our culture?
Megan
Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, Wi 53706 608&2?03 schliesman at education.wisc.edu
Received on Fri 08 Nov 2002 08:18:51 AM CST
