Beyond the village: how black children widen their sense of the world through reading other voices from the global spectrum.While BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received is devoted to books about African American culture African American culture or Black culture, in the United States, includes the various cultural traditions of African American communities. It is both part of, and distinct from American culture. The U.S. and literature, we decided it would be useful to explore what's available for our children to read about other cultures. Daphne Muse, who specializes in children's literature, took on the challenge. In the sixth grade, I traveled to distant places with names that twisted and rolled off my tongue. I played with other children, sat at their table and learned about their traditions--all on the wings of books. Some of those books, such as Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo, seriously stereotyped and distorted the images of black people, while others like Harold Courlander's Ride With the Sun: Folk Tales and Stories From All Countries of the United Nations took me longingly from Iraq and Belgium to Mexico and Ethiopia. I wanted to learn Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. While I never quite rose to the challenge of learning Amharic, my fascination with real and imagined places gave me a sense of life beyond the world of my working-class family in racially segregated Washington, D.C. My quest for reading globally was ignited by a remarkable sixth-grade teacher whose knowledge of geography and literature were astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. . The opportunities for today's young people to engage in exciting, challenging and culturally authentic literature from all points of the global village are a result of a qualitative leap in the number of books available, the range of topics and breadth of genres--traditional and cutting edge. In reading books from Finland, Ghana, Russia, Suriname mad other countries, young readers come to see how a wide and rich view of the world is so important to finding one's way in it. Mom As Coach Sakae Robeson Manning, a writer and former vice president of Paramount from Altadena, California, coaches her 12-year-old son, Bronson, in selecting good literature in much the same way she coaches him in soccer. "If I didn't coach him, his literary diet would be made up of Star Wars, exclusively," she says. "I really want him to know and read the world. "I was surprised at how many parents do not guide their children to make book choices, because like most things our kids do, it is good to have some practical lessons first, before going out on your own," notes Manning. "It's disturbing to see how parents work hard at coaching their kids in sports, teaching them to ride a bike or buying their clothes. But when it comes to what they watch on TV, the kind of music they listen to, or the books they choose, parents kind of check out." From Shakespeare to Japanese mythology, Bronson has been taught to read widely. "My morn makes me read in the library reading program, and there I read between two to four books a month" says Bronson. As a child who is African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. , Native American and Japanese, Bronson understands the importance of reading within the breadth of his heritage and beyond. Folktales provide very young readers access to cultures and communities, real and imagined, from around the world, and magazines like Cricket, Stepping Stones and New Moon are excellent sources for such stories. These multicultural magazines also invite young readers from every Continent Io write about and discuss literature and literary issues. With books like Uma Kirshnaswami's Chachaji's Cup, the intergenerational in·ter·gen·er·a·tion·al adj. Being or occurring between generations: "These social-insurance programs are intergenerational and all story of a family uprooted by the 1947 partition of India The Partition of India is the process that led to the creation, on 14 August 1947 and 15 August 1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of Dominion of Pakistan (later Islamic Republic of Pakistan) and Union of India (later Republic of India) upon the granting of independence and Pakistan, and Nancy Andrews-Goebel's The Pot That Juan Built, a fascinating look into the life of an extraordinary Mexican potter, Children's Book Press of San Francisco and Lee & Low Books of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of have shown more than two decades of commitment to diversity, bilingualism and connecting young readers to various cultural and ethnic intersections. Twelve-year old Brannon Rockwell-Charland of East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,764 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Grand Rapids known for its strong academics, high-school sport championships and its community atmosphere. , is learning the world through reading and traveling. As artists and academics, her parents make concerted efforts to support her. Amsterdam, England and Wales England and Wales are both constituent countries of the United Kingdom, that together share a single legal system: English law. Legislatively, England and Wales are treated as a single unit (see State (law)) for the conflict of laws. are stamped on her passport. "I like books that include mystery and make me want to turn file page." she says. "I also like descriptive writing that helps me picture the setting in my mind; unique stories and humor and out-of-the-ordinary plots. I like diversity in my books." Some of her recent reads include Naomi Shihab Nye's 19 Varieties of Gazelle gazelle, name for the many species of delicate, graceful antelopes of the genus Gazella, inhabiting arid, open country. Most gazelles are found only in Africa, but several species range over N Africa and SW Asia; the Persian, or goitered, gazelle ( : Poems of the Middle East, an amazing collection, and Margaret Ray's retelling re·tell·ing n. A new account or an adaptation of a story: a retelling of a Roman myth. of Magical Tales From Many Lands. Shihab Nye, a Palestinian American, has included poems by several African American youth in her collections and works with schools and youth organizations to connect with young readers. Expanding Rural Children's World In many depressed rural areas, the lens through which many children see the world is narrowed by a kind of isolated poverty that still grinds into their souls. Leigh Wiley, librarian for the Randolph County Library, Kinchafoonee Regional Library System in Cuthbert, Georgia, makes determined efforts to widen the horizons of young people like seventh graders JaQawan Culbreth and Ebony Rowell. She offers Book Talks--3 to 5 minute presentations that encourage students to read a particular book or genre. "Doing Book Talks enables me to expose the kids to excellent literature that they would overlook simply by browsing the library shelves," says Wiley. "My recommendations have led kids to read Esperanza Rising, as well as Shabanu," notes Wiley. Set in the Great Depression, Pam Munoz Ryan's Esperanza Rising focuses on the evolution of a young girl who goes from living in wealth in Mexico to living in a California migrant workers' camp and suffering through hard times. She learns to take nothing for granted. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples captures the joy and challenges of a willful and outspoken Muslim girl, living a nomadic See nomadic computing. life in the Pakistani desert. Eleven-year-old Camille Hayes, a sixth-grade student at Head Royce School in Oakland, California, also read Esperanza Rising. "I love books filled with details. I read for pleasure and to be informed," she says, as her eyes wander around my study and curiously across the shelves filled with children's books from Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Trinidad. Camille has traveled to France and throughout the United States with her mother, a faculty member at Pacific Oaks College Pacific Oaks College is a learning institution that is training students not only to be professionals but advocates. Its anti-bias curriculum has created strong efforts to challenge social injustice and point out issues related to social changes, human development, and child development. and her father an orthopedic surgeon. "As I explore the world, I find really good reads" she says. "I travel with my family a lot and pick up books along the way." RELATED ARTICLE: Stretching literary horizons. By Daphne Muse For Young Readers Day of Rain by Ana Maria Machado Ana Maria Machado is a Brazilian journalist, writer, and professor born in Rio de Janeiro on December 24, 1941. She has her lifetime achievement, by the Brazilian Academy of Letters. Her son is the dancer Pedro Martins Machado. Nelson Cross Illustrator Salamander salamander, an amphibian of the order Urodela, or Caudata. Salamanders have tails and small, weak limbs; superficially they resemble the unrelated lizards (which are reptiles), but they are easily distinguished by their lack of scales and claws, and by their moist, , 2002 ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 8-516-03120-9 Going Home, Coming Home/Ve Nha, Tham Que Huong (English and Vietnamese) by Truong Tran, illustration by Ann Phong Children's Book Press September 2003 ISBN 0-892-39179-0 The Road to Santiago by D.H. Figueredo, illustrated by Pablo Torrecilla Lee & Low Books October 2003 ISBN 1-584-30059-0 For Teen/Young Adults The Breadwinner bread·win·ner n. One whose earnings are the primary source of support for one's dependents. bread·win  ning n. by Deborah Ellis Groundwood Books November 2001 ISBN 0-888-99419-2 Iqbal by Francesco D'Adamo Atheneum ath·e·nae·um also ath·e·ne·um n. 1. An institution, such as a literary club or scientific academy, for the promotion of learning. 2. A place, such as a library, where printed materials are available for reading. November 2003 ISBN 0-689-85445-5 The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo Amistad Press. December 2002 ISBN 0-064-41002-1 The Space Between Our Footsteps Poems and Paintings From the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. April 1998 ISBN 0-689-81233-7 The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera Harcourt Brace May 2003 ISBN 0-152-05016-7 Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev Translated by Hillel Halkin Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books October 2003 ISBN 0-618-16465-0 Magazines Je Bouquine (I Read) Bayard Presse 3 rue Bayard 75008 Paris Skipping Stones PO Box 3939 Eugene, OR 97403 www.SkippingStones.org Cicada cicada (sĭkā`də), large, noise-producing insect of the order Homoptera, with a stout body, a wide, blunt head, protruding eyes, and two pairs of membranous wings. Cobblestone Publishing 30 Grove Street Suite C Peterborough, NH 03458 www.cobblestonepub.com Daphne Muse is an Oakland writer working on the reissue of La Tribu Arc-en-Ciel (The Rainbow Tribe), a children's book by Josephine Baker. |
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