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Re: By, For, About
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From: bookmarch_at_aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:16:03 -0500 (EST)
I think professor Thomas proposes an excellent research agenda -- and I am mindful that it is time to switch subjects -- however the three categories listed leave out a fourth:
books by members of under-represented groups (thus color, class, sexual orientation, disability, religious faith...) that are expressly not about their own experience. For example, books about math, about world history dealing any time or place (thus not "roots"), about astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry; books about pets, hobbies, or anything and everything that an author might want to investigate and K-12 readers might find interesting. Nonfiction belongs to all of us, and authors of every stripe should be encouraged to explore its limitless universe of possible subjects. Indeed as many of you know, the argument of Reading Don't Fix No Chevys is that a significant cohort of male teenage readers especially from challenging backgrounds want nothing to do with books about themselves and are only interested in books that give them instructions for acting in the world.
Marc Aronson
-----Original Message----- From: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas <ebonyt_at_gse.upenn.edu> To: Chris Tebbetts <ctinvt_at_hotmail.com> Cc: ccbc-net <ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu> Sent: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 10:42 am Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] By, For, About
This is a great clarification, Chris, but I'd also like to add a few words about audience. Who are the readers of these books?
- Books by authors of color (or for that matter, LGBTQ authors) that show kids who share that demographic a piece of their own experience
Yes, and that offer windows, mirrors, and doors for kids (and people) outside that experience.
- Books about characters of color (or LGBTQ characters) that EVERYONE should be reading
Agreed… but I believe this category should be collapsed into the first. All books should be viewed as being potentially for an audience of all kids (and people).
- Books by authors from outside any given population about a diversity of characters/experiences
And this is where the lens also needs to be turned. This category should be broadened to include all books. Some of the issue is the marginalization of authors of color generally and within children's literature, and yet some of this is because books featuring White protagonists and settings are not always contextualized as White and specific to a particular experience. This is not to say that every book needs to engage in ethnic head counting, but it is to note that every author must assume that kids who are younger versions of Debbie, Christine, Malinda, me, and others will be among their potential reading public.
Thus, the conversation needs to be both about expanding the 7% and interrogating the work that the 93% does in the world. The former has proved difficult, and the latter is increasingly held up for scrutiny and critique… if not in the field, outside of it, and by the very young readers we strive to reach.
We need more accounts of how different kinds of readers are reading all children's books and media, and we need a broader empirical research base. There has been quite a bit of talk about the numbers from an economic perspective. Yet economics is but one of the research dimensions needed. We also need large scale quantitative and qualitative research studies documenting reader response. While case studies and classroom studies provide rich evidence, they are being increasingly dismissed as anecdata. So perhaps interview and survey data of what child and teen readers are experiencing as they read books published in recent years would also be informative.
I am looking forward to the book discussion during the second half of the month! I'll also be sharing the discussion with my students.
A pleasant Monday to all...
Ebony
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:16:03 -0500 (EST)
I think professor Thomas proposes an excellent research agenda -- and I am mindful that it is time to switch subjects -- however the three categories listed leave out a fourth:
books by members of under-represented groups (thus color, class, sexual orientation, disability, religious faith...) that are expressly not about their own experience. For example, books about math, about world history dealing any time or place (thus not "roots"), about astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry; books about pets, hobbies, or anything and everything that an author might want to investigate and K-12 readers might find interesting. Nonfiction belongs to all of us, and authors of every stripe should be encouraged to explore its limitless universe of possible subjects. Indeed as many of you know, the argument of Reading Don't Fix No Chevys is that a significant cohort of male teenage readers especially from challenging backgrounds want nothing to do with books about themselves and are only interested in books that give them instructions for acting in the world.
Marc Aronson
-----Original Message----- From: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas <ebonyt_at_gse.upenn.edu> To: Chris Tebbetts <ctinvt_at_hotmail.com> Cc: ccbc-net <ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu> Sent: Mon, Feb 17, 2014 10:42 am Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] By, For, About
This is a great clarification, Chris, but I'd also like to add a few words about audience. Who are the readers of these books?
- Books by authors of color (or for that matter, LGBTQ authors) that show kids who share that demographic a piece of their own experience
Yes, and that offer windows, mirrors, and doors for kids (and people) outside that experience.
- Books about characters of color (or LGBTQ characters) that EVERYONE should be reading
Agreed… but I believe this category should be collapsed into the first. All books should be viewed as being potentially for an audience of all kids (and people).
- Books by authors from outside any given population about a diversity of characters/experiences
And this is where the lens also needs to be turned. This category should be broadened to include all books. Some of the issue is the marginalization of authors of color generally and within children's literature, and yet some of this is because books featuring White protagonists and settings are not always contextualized as White and specific to a particular experience. This is not to say that every book needs to engage in ethnic head counting, but it is to note that every author must assume that kids who are younger versions of Debbie, Christine, Malinda, me, and others will be among their potential reading public.
Thus, the conversation needs to be both about expanding the 7% and interrogating the work that the 93% does in the world. The former has proved difficult, and the latter is increasingly held up for scrutiny and critique… if not in the field, outside of it, and by the very young readers we strive to reach.
We need more accounts of how different kinds of readers are reading all children's books and media, and we need a broader empirical research base. There has been quite a bit of talk about the numbers from an economic perspective. Yet economics is but one of the research dimensions needed. We also need large scale quantitative and qualitative research studies documenting reader response. While case studies and classroom studies provide rich evidence, they are being increasingly dismissed as anecdata. So perhaps interview and survey data of what child and teen readers are experiencing as they read books published in recent years would also be informative.
I am looking forward to the book discussion during the second half of the month! I'll also be sharing the discussion with my students.
A pleasant Monday to all...
Ebony
-- Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Reading/Writing/Literacy Division Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216 Office: (215) 898-9309 Fax: (215) 573-2109 Email: ebonyt_at_gse.upenn.edu Website: http://scholar.gse.upenn.edu/thomas Twitter: _at_Ebonyteach Tumblr: ebonyteach "If I do not love the world--if I do not love life--if I do not love people--I cannot enter into dialogue." --Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: bookmarch_at_aol.com. To post to the list, send message to... ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu ...and include only this command in the body of the message... set ccbc-net digest CCBC-Net Archives The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. Thearchives are organized by month and year. A list of discussiontopics (including month/year) is available at... http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net ...and enter the following when prompted... username: ccbc-netpassword: Look4Posts --- You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu. To post to the list, send message to: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu ...and include only this command in the body of the message: set ccbc-net digest CCBC-Net Archives The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net and enter the following: username: ccbc-net password: Look4PostsReceived on Mon 17 Feb 2014 10:17:07 AM CST
