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Humor in Multicultural Literature
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:48:14 -0600
First, thank you to everyone for such a stimulating, thoughtful discussion of Latino picture books and publishing and the broader issues they relate with regard to multicultural literature for children and teens, and what is certainly / hopefully our shared desire to provide readers with oustanding books that reflect many cultural experiences and perspectives and speak to who we are as a nation, and as individuals. I hope we can all keep thinking, learning, buying and sharing books, and looking for ways to understand--and perhaps even answer-- the many questions that arise as we continue to try to move the discussion forward into meaningful action.
Our topic for the second part of February is one way to continue exploring the larger issue:
*Humor in Multicultural Literature.* Can multicultural literature be funny? Of course! More important, it needs to be. Serious explorations of race, ethnicity and cultural experiences---both
contemporary and historical---are too often perceived as the hallmark of
multicultural literature. But laughter is essential, too. Thankfully, there's humor to be found. And often it's no less informative or thought-provoking than books that are far more earnest in tone, as writers like Christopher Paul Curtis, Uma Krishnaswami, Lisa Yee, and others have shown. During the second part of February, we'll find the funny in multicultural literature, and talk about why it's important.
We encourage you to read Uma Krishnaswami's article "No Joke: Humor and Culture in Middle Grade Books" from the May/June issue of "Horn Book Magazine" as food for thought in this discussion:
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Tue 19 Feb 2013 03:48:14 PM CST
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:48:14 -0600
First, thank you to everyone for such a stimulating, thoughtful discussion of Latino picture books and publishing and the broader issues they relate with regard to multicultural literature for children and teens, and what is certainly / hopefully our shared desire to provide readers with oustanding books that reflect many cultural experiences and perspectives and speak to who we are as a nation, and as individuals. I hope we can all keep thinking, learning, buying and sharing books, and looking for ways to understand--and perhaps even answer-- the many questions that arise as we continue to try to move the discussion forward into meaningful action.
Our topic for the second part of February is one way to continue exploring the larger issue:
*Humor in Multicultural Literature.* Can multicultural literature be funny? Of course! More important, it needs to be. Serious explorations of race, ethnicity and cultural experiences---both
contemporary and historical---are too often perceived as the hallmark of
multicultural literature. But laughter is essential, too. Thankfully, there's humor to be found. And often it's no less informative or thought-provoking than books that are far more earnest in tone, as writers like Christopher Paul Curtis, Uma Krishnaswami, Lisa Yee, and others have shown. During the second part of February, we'll find the funny in multicultural literature, and talk about why it's important.
We encourage you to read Uma Krishnaswami's article "No Joke: Humor and Culture in Middle Grade Books" from the May/June issue of "Horn Book Magazine" as food for thought in this discussion:
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Tue 19 Feb 2013 03:48:14 PM CST
