[CALIBK12] "Authentic" multicultural books vs. "diverse but typical" stories

[ladewig]

Enjoyed the May CSLA Newsletter. Don't miss René Colato Lainz's article
(p.7) on "Writing Authentic Multicultural Picture Books." 

 

I think the editor gave René some good guidelines on what an "authentic"
multicultural book has, but what about books (picture or illustrated, or
perhaps non-illustrated chapter books) that have a character(s) that is(are)
not (or not only) of "Northern European ancestry" (and that is made evident
by pictures or text) but could pretty much be "anybody's story"? What, if
any, designation do we give these books?

 

What I'm saying is that many of us (or is it just me?) now have student
bodies that are composed of MANY nationalities/ethnicities of ancestry, but
that isn't a big "issue" – what many of us now need are books reflecting our
community as ethnically diverse but facing problems "typical" of any student
in this country. I have plenty of "I'm new to this country and I'm having
issues with that" books to help students transition and others to understand
what may be happening with newly adjusting students, but at my campus, we
have such a diverse community (including three classes of "Special Day"
students with various levels of abilities) that most of the time the
problems are just "typical" kid problems and not having to do with cultural
"differences." I'm always on the lookout for books with a multiplicity of
ethnically/racially diverse (and/or physically/mentally challenged) people
pictured, either on the cover or within the books, to reflect my school
community. Is there a genre classification or terminology for this type of
book? (I'm not saying there should be, but for those of us who are actively
looking for those books, how do we find them?).

 

Joanne Ladewig  (A.K.A. "Library Lady")

Library Media Tech

Lawrence Elementary, GGUSD

Garden Grove, California

shatz at verizon.net

 

Comments are my own and may not represent the views of GGUSD

 

 

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