Celebrating diversity is a great way to begin a new school year. It reminds your students that each of them are valued because of, not in spite of, the unique characteristics they possess. “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” – Maya Angelou
For the youngest readers:
What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World by Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Derstine, and Cynthia Pon (Charlesbridge, 2012) The photographs of children from all around the world dressed for school, play, worship, and special occasions are outstanding. Suggested extension activities at the end of the book make this ideal for early learning.
For the transitional readers:
Throw Your Tooth On the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World written by Selby B. Beeler and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (HoughtonMifflin, 1998) In Colombia, it’s not the Tooth Fairy who slips money under the pillow and takes the tooth, it’s El Raton Miguelito. In Malaysia, children bury lost baby teeth. In Taiwan, India, Greece, and Botswana, it is customary to throw the tooth on the roof! Sharing traditions for this common childhood event is a fun way to discuss with kids how we are all different and all the same.
For the older readers:
Remember: the Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison (HoughtonMifflin, 2004) This is a powerful, poignant nonfiction book full of photographs that bring to life a time in American history when diversity was not honored. Morrison writes “Remembering can be painful, even frightening. But it can also swell your heart and open your mind.”
Penelope, the hippo knows exactly how she wants to approach her first day of school until her older, wiser friend, Tiny, tells her the importance of blending in. YOU’RE WEARING THAT TO SCHOOL!?! boldly addresses embracing uniqueness and what might happen if you stand out from the crowd. Will Penelope ignore or follow the advice given to her by her seasoned friend? Illustrator, Sue Cornelison brings to life author Lynn Plourde’s characters with playfulness and dynamic expression. The juxtaposition of size, age, and personality make this book a stand-out, just like Penelope!
YOU’RE WEARING THAT TO SCHOOL !?! is a 32-page picture book, perfect for the starting school forthe first time or changing schools. Ages 5 through 8 will enjoy this story. The themes are friendship, uniqueness, fitting-in, peer pressure, starting school or a new school, and being yourself. It will make a great book for your classroom or the library.
I give this book 5 apples, top of the barrel. Lynn’s exuberance for word play and writing children’s books along with her public school work as a speech and language pathologist makes this a must-read for the start of the year, every year.
Diane Kress Hower is a children’s author/illustrator from Colorado. Her background as a child development specialist, school counselor, and psychotherapist offers a perspective on children’s literature through both professions. When Diane is not writing/illustrating/ or supporting students in remedial reading, she volunteers as the Local Area Coordinator for the West Slope, Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and as a Commissioner on the City of Grand Junction, Commission on Arts & Culture.
What are some of you favorite books about celebrating differences? Please share them in the comments. Thanks!
“This award is presented to honor books that address social responsibility towards individuals, communities, societies, and/or the environment as well as invite reflection and socially responsible action by the reader.” – – IRA’s Literacy and Social Responsibility Special Interest Group
What is social responsibility – what can it mean to young readers? And how does one create a book that is both meaningful and engaging?
Social responsibility might be saying hello to the new kid in class…picking up trash flying around the playground … refusing to shun or bully…or creating a classroom-compost.
This book presents a realistic look at how hard it is to face being the new kid in a new town moving into the worst house on the block. Jo S. Kittinger has created a believable and powerful story about how individuals within a community can offer the kind of help that makes all the difference between coping and quitting. Thomas Gonzalez’s illustrations softly, gently pull you into the neighborhood, the dirty old house and the beautiful spirit of each person who offers a helping hand.
This book shared by a classroom or a family offers much to think and talk about. How do we help each other? What is community and why do we need one – or several? Why do families sometimes have no place to live, no place to call home? And why is our first reaction to look away, step aside or close a door? A earlier review of this book on ReaderKidZ can be found HERE.
As a writer and reviewer of children’s books, I was amazed at the integrity of this book, and its appropriateness for a young reader/ listener. I asked the author, Jo Kittinger, how she came to write The House on Dirty-Third Street.
Jo: My husband, Rick, and I were out of town, searching for an address on 33rd Street. My tongue got twisted and I accidentally said “Dirty-Third Street.” That, or course, caused my writer brain to start imagining what Dirty-Third Street would look like, who would live there, who would call it that. Also, I had helped some friends at church do some repairs in a run-down neighborhood a couple of times, so I had that experience to drawn on. Throw in the fact that I moved a lot as a child and my story began to grow.
ReaderKidZ: Are social justice “issues” books important and appropriate for young readers? What makes a good one, like yours?
Jo: I heard Donna Jo Napoli, an award winning author, talk about this very subject — difficult, serious topics for children. She said that the “unfortunate child”, the one who experiences similar difficult situations, needs to be able to read about other children enduring and rising above those circumstances, to know she is not alone. The other audience — the “sheltered, protected child” — needs to read about those less fortunate so that they can grow to be empathetic, caring people. I try to be as open and honest as I can, while respecting the age-appropriateness of the material. I don’t ever want to talk down to a child, or underestimate what they already know. It’s been wonderful to see this book win awards, to have that confirmation that this is “good.” I think that a good book, focuses on story and emotion. A book that tries to teach or preach a particular viewpoint will always fall flat.
For more information about this book plus suggested classroom activities, plus information about Summer on the Moon, click on the link naming these two first winners.
This poetry anthology is all about the many ways individuals, including children, have changed the world. Some have been in little ways, others in big ways, courageous ways, such as the way Sylvia Mendez, when only ten years old, dared to enter an all White school. It was 1946 and in California, Hispanics were restricted to “Mexican schools”. Sylvia’s parents filed suit and won. But it was Sylvia who dared to step into a classroom where she met a wall of ice-pick hate. Her story is told in “The Child” by J. Patrick Lewis:
“…Eyes sharp as icepicks pierced
the windowpanes as if seeing
a Mexican for the first time.
Every door was locked with a
Secret combination of frowns.
How can anyone ever get in?
Sylvia asked. Someone must know
who has the right key…
She looked up at her mother.
Maybe me.”
This month with school starting, new students arriving, we think again about diversity and celebrating differences, rather than shunning or excluding. These poems nudge us to reflect and ask tough questions such as: Was there one white girl who motioned to Sylvia and whispered, “Sit next to me”?
Jane Yolen and David Harrison have each written poems to give voice to another type of courage, one fueled by first “not looking away,” and then by acting (penny by penny) with compassion, not judgment. David Harrison writes in “Nicholas Cobb”:
“Four-year-old Nicholas Cobb
saw people living under
a bridge, asked
why…
Nicholas asked friends to give,
left jars in barbershops,
made a website – Comfort and Joy…
Ten years from the bridge,
Eagle Scout Cobb,
doing what he could,
bought fifty-four coats
By learning what it means
to ask not why
but how
to make
a difference.”
Jane Yolen’s poem “Under the Bridge” challenges our myths about homeless people:
“Once trolls lived under the bridge,
so we thought…
Mean and green billy-goat eaters…
Once hobos lived under the bridge,
dark and dangerous…
But families under the bridge?…”
What a beautiful collection of poems which inspire and challenge. We all have prejudices and we all have felt discrimination. Who has not been bullied, left out, not chosen to be on either side’s team? Who has not turned away from someone who talks weird, in “broken-English,” and might be “dangerous?”
In this collection, each poem and brief explanatory narration could become a poem-a-day to read together, reflect, discuss, and write one’s own thoughts about one way to dare to dream and change one’s classroom, one’s community, or the world.
“…to ask not why, but how…”
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer’s poem titled “Grace” reminds us of the little ways that we each can dare to dream…and change our own world:
“It’s wiggling the hook out
of the fish’s mouth…
It’s a back turning
a head shaking
a refusal to hear
an ugly rumor,
a compromising joke,
lies…
It’s this hand,
reaching out to yours.” (emphasis added)
For information on the 2nd Annual DARE TO DREAM…CHANGE THE WORLD writing contest for students in grades 3 through 8, check out the DARE TO DREAM site.
Children are children. Whether they wear a turban or track shoes, they share the same human need for a sense of belonging, acceptance, and understanding – no matter what culture they hail from. Well-crafted books are the place in which a bridge of cultural understanding can be established. Most especially, books crafted with America’s refugee population or “New Arrivals” in mind – a timely new genre in the KidLit world. Farhana Zia’sThe Garden of My Imaanis a fine example of this important genre.
To provide a national resource for the “New Arrivals” genre, consultant Kirsten Cappy of Curious City, secured support through Wheaton College (Norton, MA) in the form of a summer intern, Delanie Honda, to build the database of refugee children’s literature, www.ImYourNeighborBooks.org. The website features a recommended list of books and an evolving repository of engagement projects for educators, librarians, and community organizations who seek to use literature to build bridges between new arrivals and long-term communities.
It’s a small, small world and we’re all neighbors, aren’t we? So why not read about each other, learn about each other, and come to understanding for one another, and maybe….just maybe…develop a friendship with one another!
“The true meeting takes place when the book opens, and a stranger reads about — and comprehends — a stranger.” –Amit Majmudar, Author
Farhana Zia is the author of THE GARDEN OF MY IMAAN, a middle grade novel about the challenges facing a contemporary pre-teen Muslim girl in the fifth grade.
For a chance to win a free copy of the novel, send an email to: RIVET@peachtree-online.com and put “Book Give-away” in the subject line.
Find the first half of our conversation with the author HERE. The second half of our conversation is below.
ReaderKidZ: Many young readers may not understand why Muslim girls and women wear a hijab. In the book, Aliya’s mother calls it a “symbol of modesty.” Aliya expresses her fears about being different if she wears one. Can you talk a bit more about what it feels like to a young girl to wear a hijab, whether a girl can change her mind once she has started to wear one, and whether there are “rules” about when and where to do that?
Farhana: Islam emphasizes the concept of decency and modesty in the interaction between members of the opposite sex. Modesty in the Quran concerns both men’s and women’s gaze, gait and garments. The Hijab, a veil that covers the head and chest, promotes the notion of modesty of garment. As such, it is considered a symbol of a woman’s modesty, privacy and morality. If adopted, it is worn by a Muslim female beyond the age of puberty and in the presence of adult males other than her husband, son, and brothers.
Young women who’ve chosen to adopt the hijab in a society where it is not part of the mainstream culture have done so with courage. I try to convey this in The Garden of my Imaan when both Amal and Marwa choose to adopt the hijab of their own volition and not because they were pressed into it by someone else.
In addition to modesty of garment, women also wear it because it points to their Muslim identity. I personally know many women in hijab who are fully functioning and successful in their professions. This is not only a testimony of their innate abilities and strengths but effectively refutes the misconception that hijab is thrust upon a woman to limit and restrict her.
Once girls opt for the hijab, they usually stay with it. On the other hand, I have heard of instances where some gave up the hijab for a period of time due to fear of retaliation during the post 9/11 days.
ReaderKidZ: At one point, Marwa asks a boy why the baseball hat he wears is any less “weird” than her hijab. That’s a great analogy for young people. Can you think of any other religions, groups or cultures in which a young person wears distinctive headgear or clothing in a contemporary school?
Farhana: The Sikh faith requires that males wear turbans. There is also the yarmulke worn by Jewish men and boys, especially those adhering to Orthodox or Conservative Judaism. If I am not wrong, after the Star of David, a yarmulke or kippah is one of the most recognizable symbols of Jewish identity.
ReaderKidZ: I love the extended family Aliya is part of, and the way her mother, grand-mother, great-grandmother and even her father, offer Aliya differing views on their religion, fasting during Ramadan, showing respect, and wearing the hijab. Can you tell us a bit about your experience with such multi-generational families?
Farhana: I lived for part of my youth in a joint family system. Our family home was established by my great grandfather and with time grew to include a burgeoning family comprised of his progeny. The grounds extended over multiple acres and were enclosed by an imposing wall. Several nuclear families occupied private quarters but co-mingling on a daily basis was routine. At any given time of day, you were surrounded by grandparents, grand aunts/uncles, aunts/uncles, cousins once and even twice removed! It was practically a world unto itself. It was usual to be in the company of poets and scholars, storytellers and counselors, chefs and chess masters. Family with moderate religious views and outlooks co-existed harmoniously with those with a more conservative bent of mind. We respected them for their modes of practice and they respected us for ours. It seemed that everyone’s lives intertwined to some degree and multiple people featured to a larger or lesser degree in your life, and had something to impart or contribute. We were bound together by fealty, values, heritage and lineage and we often came together in happiness and in times of sorrow. The best thing was that young and old lived in proximity, harmony and an underlying feeling of security and belonging. I think that nostalgic memories of this rich and vibrant way of life was the basis for the inter- generational relationships that are portrayed in The Garden of my Imaan.
ReaderKidZ: Please tell us a bit about your life, Farhana, and how it informed your writing of this book.
Farhana:I immigrated to the United States in 1967 as a teenager and raised two children in this great country. I currently teach fifth graders in a public school and I can tell you it’s supremely revitalizing to be surrounded by youthful energy and vibrancy! The opportunities to observe the psychology of young people at close quarters was particularly helpful in informing my writing of the book with some semblance of authenticity.
However, I got serious about writing after I became a grandparent and felt an inner need to create some good memories for my three grandchildren, who currently range in age from four years to eight. I wanted to give them something lasting that showed I cared. It is inevitable that one day I will be a picture on a wall or a photo in an album and I’d like to leave behind a reason or two to make my grandchildren think back on their genealogy, in much the way I remember my own grandparents with love, regard and respect.
The positive experiences of a joint family system and an appreciation for that way of life seems to have informed my writing and what I tend to convey through my writing. The Garden of my Imaan is just as much about the importance of family as it is the growth journey of a young girl. Both Badi Amma and Amma are central in Aliya’s life and have as much a hand in molding her values and character as her parents- a classic case of a village raising a child. Likewise, my first book, Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji, is also about inter- generational family relationships. I hope that my grandchildren will be able to recognize the themes of family and the importance of our elders in our lives. Additionally, I hope they will learn to live out their roles with respect and grace.
Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts with your readers.
There’s no better time for parents and teachers to talk about cultural differences than at the start of a new school year. Children everywhere will be in classes with students from other countries, who may speak different languages and follow different customs. It’s important for them to be reminded that we’re all human beings, with the same desires and fears. This month, ReaderKidZ will feature books for readers K-5 that can help reinforce a mutual respect for one another.
A perfect example is the middle grade novel THE GARDEN OF MY IMAAN by Farhana Zia. Aliya is like many girls in fifth grade. She worries about being popular, how to talk to boys, and how to stand up for herself when someone’s being mean to her. To add to these challenges are the questions facing her as a pre-teen Muslim girl: should she fast for Ramadan? If she decides to wear the traditional hijab, will her classmates make fun of her? THE GARDEN OF MY IMAAN shows what life is like for many fifth graders in today’s schools but especially for Muslim students, who have to juggle the traditions of multi-cultural families at home with the fear of being different than their peers.
For a chance to win a free copy of this delightful book, send an email to Emily Rivet at Peachtree Publishers: RIVET@peachtree-online.com. Please put “Book give-away” in the subject line.
We spoke to author Zahana Zia about why she wrote this book and what she hopes young readers will take away from it. The first half of that conversation is below:
ReaderKidZ: One of the things that impressed me about “The Garden of my Imaan” is the way you wove the normal trials and tribulations of any fifth grade girl with interesting information about being Muslim so that it didn’t sound like a message. What was your initial motivation in telling this story: a desire to portray a ten-year-old Muslim girl in today’s world, or to inform young readers about the Muslim religion?
Farhana: This is not a book about Islam and it does not pretend for a minute to teach about the religion. Rather, it’s a fictionalized portrayal of an American Muslim pre-teen caught up in the today’s post 9/11 world, while leaving some room in it for some information about certain religious practices and beliefs in order to deliver a degree of clarity for the reader. Notwithstanding, I did try to dispel certain misconceptions that are out there, specifically about (a) who Muslims are, (b) where they come from and (c) also how hijab is often wrongly perceived as a symbol of male domination. I hope that I was able to dispel these misconceptions through Aliya and Marwa’s story.
ReaderKidZ: At one point in the story, Aliya’s new Muslim friend, Marwa, says that “Muslims are very unpopular since 9/11.” Do you think it’s getting any better for Muslim children in American schools?
Farhana: I don’t have firsthand knowledge to make a categorical statement one way or the other. Tensions toward Muslims in the general population appeared to be easing until the unfortunate Boston Marathon attack when emotions got riled up yet again. Now it feels as though we are where we were following the terrorist attack of 9/11. The reality of life is that wherever and whenever a provocation occurs, there will be a reaction. Unfortunately, the innocent people are more often the ones to feel the brunt of hostility.
As a classroom teacher, I can vouch for the anti-bullying and teasing programs that have been put in place in schools. Schools are vigilant about teaching respect and tolerance for cultural diversity. They are concerned about providing a safe environment for all students. But that said, it is difficult to regulate attitudes and biases and to monitor each unkind word uttered. Kids are adept at picking up on all kinds of differences; and a difference in appearance or a difference in religion is just two more to add to their list.
On the other hand, I’d like to think that one act of prejudice is outnumbered by ten acts of humanity and compassion. When I recently questioned my thirteen year old grand nephew about problems he might have encountered at school as a result of his being Muslim, he admitted being called a terrorist by one of his classmates. Yet, he quickly followed up this account by relating how the rest of his friends had rallied together to take the offender to task. His story was just as heartwarming as another account about a group of high school students who voluntarily came together one year ago to support a mosque when members of a local church demonstrated against the local Muslim community.
Incidents such as these do indeed reflect the true American spirit – it’s the very same spirit that would enable a hijab-wearing Marwa to get elected to school council. It’s also my hope that this spirit will continue to prevail and see us all through trying times.
ReaderKidZ: Aliya’s family is from India and Marwa’s from Morocco. But their classmates are like many people around the world who think all Muslims come from the Middle East, particularly Iran and Iraq. Can you talk a bit about how many Muslims there are in the world, and in which countries they live, and how they differ?
Farhana: The birth of Islam was in Arabia in the 7th century; but the religion quickly spread as far west as Spain during the height of the Islamic Civilization and as far east as China, gathering within its folds, people of multiple ethnicities and cultures. I believe this is an aspect of Islam that must be openly celebrated. Today, there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, roughly 23% of the world population. Of these, roughly 62% live in Asia – Pacific and 20% in the Middle East – Africa. 15% live in Sub Saharan Africa and 3% in Europe. Also the largest Muslim nation is Indonesia with a population of almost 400 million.
It is clearly not accurate to label all Muslims under the Middle East banner and it is not accurate or fair to label all Muslims as ideologues either. In a percolating socio-political-religious climate where radical Islamists are generally suspected as the perpetrators, it is often an uphill struggle to dispel misinformation and misconceptions about who Muslims are and what their faith, Islam, is about. However, interfaith dialogues continue to take place in order to promote understanding and harmony. It would be great if educational systems also got more proactive with fact-based, unbiased and verifiable information so that there is no second guessing or making up of minds based on sensational news, distorted perceptions and half truths.
For the second half of our conversation with Farhana Zia, come back later this week.
Mission Statement
To provide teachers, librarians, and parents with the resources and inspiration to foster a love of reading in kids, K-5.
