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The Importance of All Children Seeing Themselves in Literature ("I…
The Importance of All Children Seeing Themselves in Literature
"I started to exist when I started to read." - Walter Dean Myers
Varian Johnson first saw himself in books by Walter Dean Myers and Virginia Hamilton's books. Both authors are African American.
Sharon Robinson did not see herself in books as a child until she was introduced to Nancy Drew, who was a female character.
The book that made a first impression on Sonia Manzano was "When I Was Puerto Rican" written by Esmeralda Santiago. The book reminded her of someone like her who had the same heritage and lived in New York. The first book she really loved was Charlotte's Web, a gift from her teacher.
Lisa Yee identified most with Sidney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind-Family books, even though she was not Jewish as the family was in the book. She identified with the closeness of the characters.
Books with characters of color should not be boring to readers.
It is important for students to realize that there is someone behind the books that they enjoy.
"When you write a character, you write him first. His race and issues will follow." - Lisa Yee
Layers are important in books.
Race does not always define a book. It's about balance.
The child who reads the book will bring his/her own layer to the book.
Once the book leaves the author's hands, it now belongs to the reader.
For readers (ELL) students with different languages, or students who do not have books, oral reading can be used to help them gain interest in reading.
It's cool to be smart.
Parents can read to their children and children can read to their parents. This facilitates future reading patterns.
As a writer, it is important to read all types of genres.
Children have the capacity to like all grades of books regardless of the age cap.
Diverse books need to be supported.
Publishing diverse books is going to be how publishing survives in the future.