Final Class Reflection

At the end of this semester I can say that my view and knowledge of diversity has changed since August. To begin with the fact that we looked at such a wide range of diverse topics has broaden my views in general, however some of the categories we examined I have had little or no experience with. I feel this class was benefically because it gave me the needed skills to look at literature with an anti-bias approach in order to evaluate the ideas and messages that the text and pictures convey to a reader.

Overall I enjoyed the range of genres that we examined because it presented many aspects of diversity that are important to teach children about. When I was growing up I was never presented with such a selection of books, therefore in order to create a diverse classroom I feel it is important to include everyone. I feel by providing the range of diverse genres every child is able to see themselves in someway which creates a welcoming community for everyone.

I feel the course pack was helpful when accompanying the books due to the fact that most of them presented fact about that aspect of diversity that offered insights to the text. I especially enjoyed the article by Cortez discussing the issue of generalizations versus stereotypes. I feel this is a very important topic to discuss with students due to the fact that it is commonly misinterpreted. What I mean by this is that sometimes an individual feels they are stating a generalization when in fact they are presented a pre-existing stereotype.

Overall, I enjoyed all of the books due to the fact that they were not like anything I have ever read before. I would have to say my two favorite books were "Al Capone Does My Shirts" and "Boy Meets Boy". I found both of them to be very interesting while still conveying very strong messages, I even had trouble setting them down to work on other homework! These are two of the books I would keep in the course for future classes


Overall, I really enjoyed this class! I feel I learned a lot about children's literature and how to choose appropriate books for my future classroom. The are stereotypes often presented in children's literature that I would have accidentially overlooked had I not take this course.

Professional Source

Forsman, Simonet, Diana, Lisa. "Understanding the GLBTQ Diversity in the Classroom." Running Head: GLBTQ in the Classroom. Hamlin University, Minnesota. 25 Nov. 2003.

This article mentions that as classrooms continually become more of a melting pot for students in the future, GLBTQ needs to be introduced more into classrooms. The article stresses that it is a teacher's responsibility to educate themselves on the topic in order to enforce a zero tolerance rule for discrimination against sexual orientation. GLBTQ students continue to drop out of schools at a 26% rate due to the lack of inclusion of GLBTQ in classrooms. Some more diverse school communities provide programs due to the increasing number of homosexual family types in schools. Overall, this article emphasizes the importance of educating children about GLBTQ and providing resources in order to achieve an anti-bias classroom.

I agree with many of the ideas presented in this article about introducing GLBTQ information to children. I'm concerned about the possibilities for this to occur due to school guidelines, but feel guidelines must also adjust for changes over time. However, I do feel that drastic changes for the GLBTQ community in schools will be a lengthy process. Change will occur, however small changes will be made to eventually progress to major adjustments in schools. Overall, I was very excited to find an article that advocates for changes to be made in the current school communities!

Summary of Book Reviews

After the entire process of the book reviews, I reflected on thress specific aspects of my experience. The first thing I mentioned were the ideas that were common throughout all three books that I reviewed. Then I reflected on what I hoped to find when searching for GLBTQ picture books prior to my reviewing process. Lastly, I discussed the actual experience I had when searching for GLBTQ picture books.

One theme I noticed in each book was the presentation of the idea that there is a variety of family types. Each book compared the homosexual-parented familis to other family types throughout the stories. I also noticed all of the homosexual individuals presented in the picture books were the parents of the child focused on throughout the book. This somewhat left me, as a reader, with the thought that a homosexual relationship was not worth discussing unless there was a child involved that the readers may believe to be impacted by the family relationship.

When first attempting to search for text , I obviously hoped to find a wide range and variety of GLBTQ picture books. I was sure that the increased dicussion of diversity in schools would also have an impact on published picture books. I was also hoping to find an age range of homosexual individuals represented in picture books. This was in hopes that children would not assume only adults are homosexuals and would therefore become more accepting of their homosexual peers in the future.

Lastly, the actual outcome of my GLBTQ picture book search was quite different than I had hoped for it to go. The first book store, a small book store at the local mall, claimed to have GLBTQ picture books mixed in with other books. However, no books were found and no specific section was labeled GLBTQ literature. The second book store, a much larger store located in tha smae mall, staff first directed me to the "emotions" section in the picture books area, claiming that was where GLBTQ texts would be located. After searching three shelves about natural bodily functions, no books were found. At the help desk, one employee was able to look up a GLBTQ book she had heard of in a prior MSU teacher education course. That same book store clerk ordered two books that she found for me, to be special delivered to the store. I then turned to the online bookstores in order to locate more books. This proved to be a lot more efficient due to the fact that I could search several stores simultaneously. I was most able to find GLBTQ picture books through online searches in book stores. I was shocked by the lack of GLBTQ picture books in small and large book stores. I was similarly surprised to find some of the staff in the stores had no idea what I was looking for when I asked where the GLBTQ picture books were located in the store! I guess things have not changed in book stores as much as I had hoped!

"One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads"

Valentine, Johnny. One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 2004.

"One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads" is a story about a little boy with two blue, dads. Throughout the story a little girl questions what it is like to have two blue dads and the boy continuously stresses that his dads are just like any other dad. The ending leads to another unusual type of dad, a green dad!

Although the story presents the idea that the little boy has two dads, I feel the main focus of the story can be confusing due to the fact that the fathers are blue. The little girl in the story is consistenting questioning the boy about his fathers, however the questioning centers around the fact that his fathers are blue. Is it possible that children could misinterpret the idea of two fathers? Maybe they will think if a child has two fathers, they will be different in appearance like the blue dads. Although the book presents the idea that having two dads does not make them different, I feel children could misinterpret the message of this picture book. A similar concern is the image that the illustrations accompanying the text present. On one particular page, one of the fathers is shown wearing an apron and holding a pie because he is the one that cooks. Though the idea behind the book seems to have good intensions, some of the text and illustrations could present stereotypes about gay individuals.

"Molly's Family"

Garden, Nancy. Molly's Family. New York: Farrar, Straus And Giroux (Byr), 2004.

"Molly's Family" is the story of a little girl in a kindergarten classroom that is preparing for the class's open house. Molly drew a picture of her family only to have other children in the classroom question the fact that she has two mothers. Molly gets upset so when she goes home she talks to her mothers about what happen at school. Soon after the teacher in the story explains to the children that there are many kinds of stories. Molly eventually puts up her family picture for the open house and everything is happily ever after.

This story is very interesting because although it presents the idea of a child having two mothers, it also displays the way that other children in a classroom could react to the family composition. Althugh the book does display a number of family types, for example a child with one dad, one with a mom and dad, and one having only one mom to help provide evidence of differing family types. One thing I was unsure about was the stereotypes presented about lesbians in the book. In the illustrations, it appears as though the birth mother has long feminine hair while Mama Lu has shorter hair which could present a more masculine appearance. The book also seems slightly unrealistic due to the fact that there is a problem, the child is upset, and all of the sudden everything is okay. This story also appears to lack diversity according to the illustrations simply due to the fact that all of the characters are caucasian. Could the lack of diversity presented in the book portray a stereotype about lesbians in general?

"And Tango Makes Three" book review

Parnell, Peter, and Justin Richardson. Tres Con Tango / And Tango Makes Three. New York: Lectorum Publications, 2006.

"And Tango Makes Three" is the true story of two male partner penguins, Roy and Silo at the Central Park Zoo in New York. When a zoo keeper notices an abandon egg, he leaves it in the nest that Roy and Silo built hoping they will care for the egg. The male couple care for the egg until it finally becomes a baby penguin of their very own!

This book really emphasizes the fact that there is a wide variety of human and animal families to be found at the zoo. It does a wonderful job of presenting the idea that families vary, however it does not tell of any unique family compositions other than the penguins. The idea that the story is true is very interesting, however I'm curious as to what kind of message the reader gets from the story. I feel children will now understand that animals can love another animal of the same sex, however will they understand that humans can do the same?

Pura Belpre

The Pura Belpre award is named after Pura Belpre, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. "The award was established in 1996 and is presented to a Latino/Latina (people whose heritage eminates from any of the Spanish speaking cultures of the Western Hemisphere) writer and illlustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth" (American Library Association). The award is given out bi-annully and is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The books considered for this award must be published in either the U.S. or Puerto Rico and must be either/or both English and Spanish. The committee to select these books must be members of the ALA and are preferablly Spanish speakers.

Some 2006 Pura Belpre Award Winners:For Narrative:"The Tequila Worm" by Viola CanalesFor Illustration"Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart" by Raul Colon

One of our class books, "Becoming Naomi Leon" by Pam Munoz Ryan, is a Pura Belpre Honor book for it's narrative.To research this award more go to:http://www.ala.org/