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Re:ccbc-net digest: March 09, 2013
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From: Colleen Kelley <cakelley_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:46:24 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
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I, too, wanted to add something to that discussion, from a conversation I had last weekend with my sister. My sister has taught kindergarten for many years in Illinois. She told me that although the trade publications may not reflect this, their schools are using the Houghton Mifflin educational readers series that she thinks does do a pretty good job of representing families of color. She said she thought it was piloted in the D.C. area. Of course, this is just color, and not culture, but perhaps the higher grades expand on this. Colleen Kelley
-----Original Message----- From: John Coy Sent: Mar 12, 2013 9:58 PM To: CCBC-Net Subject: Re:
ccbc-net digest: March 09, 2013
I know we have moved to a new topic, but I wanted to share something that happened last week that connects to our previous interesting discussion about diversity in books for children.
I live in Minnesota and It's very rare for me to go to a school in any part of the state that does not have a diversity of skin colors. This is true in small towns and suburbs that even ten years ago were much whiter. One of the places where people's perceptions have not kept up with what's actually taking place is in the suburbs. Many of these schools are much more diverse than people realize and often there is a big difference between first grade and fifth grade in the diversity of the students.
I chose to portray such a school in my 4 for 4 middle grade series. It features four friends and follows them from elementary school to middle school. In Top of the Order, the first book, the friends are in fifth grade and are worried about middle school. Of the four friends, Isaac is African-American, Diego is Hispanic, and Jackson and Gig are white.
When I was working on the books, I showed them to fifth graders and asked for any suggestions of things that didn't feel authentic. They made many suggestions and I made many changes. One of the things I was struck by is how far ahead of their parents they are in being comfortable with diversity.
Last week I was in a suburban school talking about the book and the characters. One of the fifth graders was named Diego and was the same size and build of Diego in the book. He was clearly excited to be portrayed in a book and his classmates were excited, too. I thanked him for letting me use his name in the book.
The next day I was in a different suburban school and I had a white student named Isaac who was excited that he was in the book. He connected to the character based on name and the skin color was secondary. In the next class I had another Diego who was very happy to have his name used. I thanked both of them.
There are so many different ways to portray the diversity of the United States in 2013. One of them is to accurately reflect what is happening in our schools right now. I am grateful for the work so many of you are doing to address these issues. I continue to be encouraged by where young people are with these issues and it's one more reason I like being with them.
John Coy www.johncoy.com
Subject: STEM From: tricia springstubb tricia.springstubb_at_gmail.com Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2013 09:32:15 -0500 X-Message-Number: 1
Just to say: I am so grateful to librarians and teachers like you, out there working with our children. Thank you for your creativity and joy!
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:46:24 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}
I, too, wanted to add something to that discussion, from a conversation I had last weekend with my sister. My sister has taught kindergarten for many years in Illinois. She told me that although the trade publications may not reflect this, their schools are using the Houghton Mifflin educational readers series that she thinks does do a pretty good job of representing families of color. She said she thought it was piloted in the D.C. area. Of course, this is just color, and not culture, but perhaps the higher grades expand on this. Colleen Kelley
-----Original Message----- From: John Coy Sent: Mar 12, 2013 9:58 PM To: CCBC-Net Subject: Re:
ccbc-net digest: March 09, 2013
I know we have moved to a new topic, but I wanted to share something that happened last week that connects to our previous interesting discussion about diversity in books for children.
I live in Minnesota and It's very rare for me to go to a school in any part of the state that does not have a diversity of skin colors. This is true in small towns and suburbs that even ten years ago were much whiter. One of the places where people's perceptions have not kept up with what's actually taking place is in the suburbs. Many of these schools are much more diverse than people realize and often there is a big difference between first grade and fifth grade in the diversity of the students.
I chose to portray such a school in my 4 for 4 middle grade series. It features four friends and follows them from elementary school to middle school. In Top of the Order, the first book, the friends are in fifth grade and are worried about middle school. Of the four friends, Isaac is African-American, Diego is Hispanic, and Jackson and Gig are white.
When I was working on the books, I showed them to fifth graders and asked for any suggestions of things that didn't feel authentic. They made many suggestions and I made many changes. One of the things I was struck by is how far ahead of their parents they are in being comfortable with diversity.
Last week I was in a suburban school talking about the book and the characters. One of the fifth graders was named Diego and was the same size and build of Diego in the book. He was clearly excited to be portrayed in a book and his classmates were excited, too. I thanked him for letting me use his name in the book.
The next day I was in a different suburban school and I had a white student named Isaac who was excited that he was in the book. He connected to the character based on name and the skin color was secondary. In the next class I had another Diego who was very happy to have his name used. I thanked both of them.
There are so many different ways to portray the diversity of the United States in 2013. One of them is to accurately reflect what is happening in our schools right now. I am grateful for the work so many of you are doing to address these issues. I continue to be encouraged by where young people are with these issues and it's one more reason I like being with them.
John Coy www.johncoy.com
Subject: STEM From: tricia springstubb tricia.springstubb_at_gmail.com Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2013 09:32:15 -0500 X-Message-Number: 1
Just to say: I am so grateful to librarians and teachers like you, out there working with our children. Thank you for your creativity and joy!
--- ---Received on Wed 13 Mar 2013 01:46:24 PM CDT
