Book reviews: whose opinions count?

It’s often said that books are critical as windows and mirrors – opening up new worlds and reflecting back your own reality – and also as maps that show you possibilities for the future. This realization inspired We Need Diverse Books, an organization whose mission it is to increase the diversity of characters in books for young people.

Often the conversations focus on supporting more authors and illustrators from diverse backgrounds, but another area now coming to the forefront is the diversity of the book reviewers themselves. A recent survey by School Library Journal, one of the largest sources of reviews of material for youth, found that 88.8% of their reviewers are white. 

Why does this matter? As Megan Schliesman writes in "Are We Privileging White Voices in Criticism?"

"...it’s more than a matter of taste. It’s a matter of knowledge and experience, and we need to be willing to listen to one another, and especially to the voices of those who are speaking from positions of knowledge and experience..."

YA author Malinda Lo's article "Perceptions of Diversity in Book Reviews," points out a number of problems she's observed when reading reviews of diverse literature (do read her eloquent and passionate post in full, as it is well worth your time):

"These reviews reveal a few specific issues or perceptions about diversity: the idea that diversity in a book is contrived; the critique that a book contains too many issues; the question of believability; the demand for glossaries; and finally, unsupported assumptions relating to race. ...All of these microaggressions add up to support an environment in which particular beliefs are held as given: that readers are predominantly white; that books should explain their diverse content to those white readers; that too much diversity is unbelievable. ...Book reviews are one visible place where it’s possible to see these beliefs written in plain English."

Book reviews matter because they form the basis of reading and purchasing decisions by parents, teachers, and librarians. A book review has significant power to shape perceptions of a book. It can open a reader's eyes to nuances they might otherwise have missed, offering much-needed context and awareness. Critical evaluation is also part of every award selection process. 

I was thrilled to be granted a spot in this year's Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training, intended to "result in new and emerging leaders for future Association for Library Service to Children evaluation committees," which include the Newbery, Caldecott, Sibert, Wilder, Carnegie, Batchelder, Belpré, Geisel, and Odyssey awards. While my personal background and experiences include a fairly broad range of types of diversity, we all have room to learn and grow in this area. 

As a reviewer for School Library Journal, I am often sent books that have themes relating to diversity or that were originally published in another country. Conversations such as the ones inspired by the articles above have helped me to be more aware of my own blind spots, as well as the responsibility I bear to the creators of these works, and their potential readers. Whether the Bill Morris Seminar eventually leads me to the great honor of serving on an ALSC award committee or not, I know that I will learn much of value that I can then offer to those I serve as I choose books for our collection, advise teachers on materials for lessons, design my own curriculum, and recommend titles to students.

As you read book reviews and consider the assessments they put forth, I encourage you to bear in mind the fact that they were filtered through someone else's perspective and experiences which may or may not fit with your own. Well-intentioned though reviewers overwhelmingly may be, this is ultimately a very human process and we can only benefit from bringing more voices to the table.

Random thoughts on balancing choice and challenge

As is obvious from a few of my previous posts, I am a huge advocate of allowing children to make free reading choices:

• The importance of independent reading choices
• What makes a book "challenging enough"?
• Matt Haig's 30 Things to Tell a Book Snob
• Neil Gaiman speaks his mind: Let children read the books they love
• Comfort books

Not only is this a proven strategy for improving reading ability, it also develops a positive association with reading, which is more likely to lead someone to identify as a reader than if it becomes a source of anxiety because adults decide that the books you like are not "the right ones."

These lines from Jacqueline Woodson's gorgeous memoir, the National Book Award winner Brown Girl Dreaming, poignantly speak to this:

"Every Monday, my mother takes us
to the library around the corner. We are allowed
to take out seven books each. On those days,
no one complains
that all I want are picture books.

Those days, no one tells me to read faster
to read harder books
to read like Dell.

No one is there to say, Not that book,
when I stop in front of the small paperback
with a brown boy on the cover.
Stevie."

Challenge is a great thing, but it's different when you choose a challenging book because it excites you. And of course "challenge" can mean many different things. We all pick up books for many reasons - relaxation, escape, nostalgia, to learn about a subject that excites us, to be able to talk with peers, to appreciate beautiful art, to laugh, to cry - and it's crucial that we let children explore all these types of reading.

Still, there are times when readers of all ages can get stuck in a rut - and there are ways to make stepping outside your usual comfort zone fun and engaging. Lately much of my kid and teen reading list has come from two sources:

• homework for the Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training 
• the Middle Grade book club I joined this fall

I was thrilled to be given a spot in the Bill Morris Seminar, and my desire to participate is motivation enough for me to engage even with the titles I might not have picked up on my own, some of which are turning out to be new favorites!

The same goes for the book club, whose members include authors, school librarians and children's booksellers. Each month's host chooses the book we'll read, so I'm discovering new books there as well.

I have a few ways of offering kids choices and nudging them to challenge themselves with something different. One is the Battle of the Books, which our Middle School is trying for the first time this year in a competition against Overlake School in February. Students select most of the titles on the list, and must read at least 4 of the 12 to participate.

Book clubs, which I run during lunch and recess or breaks for grades 3 and up, also expose students to a variety of books and genres they might not otherwise try - but the fun of sharing with peers is encouragement enough.

If you're concerned about your child's limited reading choices, instead of saying "no" to the ones they're choosing, try to find fun ways to help them say "yes" to other books too:

• play audiobooks in the car or at home
• read together (you don't stop eating together when your child can feed herself, so don't stop reading aloud once they can read independently!)
• spend more leisurely time browsing in a library or bookstore
• join or start a parent-child book club
• start reading some of these other books yourself and share your excitement in a dinner table conversation

Rufus Reads: reading our way around the world!

https://flic.kr/p/85Joc7

The Geography Bee is a big deal at our school. One of our students made it to the national level for the state of Washington, and another represented our school at the state finals! Reading is also a huge passion of among our students. 

Inspired by London writer Ann Morgan's blog "A year of reading the world," I'm setting a challenge for our students and staff. Those who choose to participate will:

• Read a book set on each continent or by an author from each continent (Antarctica is optional)
• Track their progress on the maps hanging up in the Library Learning Commons (we'll draw a line from place to place so you can see where your journey takes you!)
• Let the LLC staff know which books they read, so we can update our ongoing list

Other guidelines:

• Fiction and nonfiction are fine
• Everyone will choose a book that's "just right" for their reading level
• Listening to audiobooks definitely counts!

Between all of us, let's see how many different countries we can visit! Feel free to comment here with your favorite books from around the world.

Happy reading and armchair traveling!

Food literacy month + haikus = mouth-watering fun!

Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed September Food Literacy Month here in Washington state. The objectives are to "promote food education, inspire food choices that are good for people and good for the planet, encourage parental involvement, and motivate communitywide support." 

We honored this proclamation by using books to spark conversation in Kindergarten through 3rd grade about the impact of food choices, awareness of where our food comes from, appreciation for those who help bring food to our tables, and the importance of being open to trying new foods.

An especially inspirational and informative book was Jacqueline Briggs Martin's Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table from local publisher and food literacy advocates, Readers to Eaters. It tells the true story of a professional basketball player who saw a need in the community and worked tirelessly, using his expertise and drawing people together, to make tremendous things happen. This story connected well with our own school garden and composting initiative.


In 2nd and 3rd grades we used the lively and colorful Yum! MmMm! Qué Rico! Americas' Sproutings by Pat Mora to create our own food haiku, accompanied by Tagxedo word clouds. Here are a few for you to enjoy!

Party in your mouth

A burst of herbs on my tongue

It says, “Eat me now!”

- Audrey

Sweet burst in your mouth

Happy passion, bumpy seeds

Red and white makes pink.

- Kyson

Yummy cheesy bits

Shredded bits of parmesan

Bubbling cheese bread

- Nathan

Improving Wikipedia, one article at a time

After dabbling a bit with OneNote, I decided to give it a try with our second Simple English Wikipedia project which challenges fifth grade students to counteract the pervasive geographical and gender bias in this popular resource. 

I chose Simple English Wikipedia (SEW) because it serves young readers and English language learners so the expectations for the complexity of the work was more realistic for a group of 10- and 11-year-olds.

Working in their table groups, students compared the treatment of a single topic in regular and SEW and recorded their comments in a Venn diagram:

Next, they brainstormed the likely audiences for each version so they would have their readers in mind as they wrote. Working in pairs or individually, students selected topics that would help rectify the imbalances they had learned about.

Another aspect of this project was improving their research skills by requiring them to use the wonderful databases from the public library to gather information:

The final step was writing their articles in OneNote. Here is what part of one team's work looked like:  

It was an interesting experience moving this unit to the OneNote environment! This change made it a lot easier for the students to collaborate in a meaningful and efficient way. I'm sure I can find ways to take this even further next year. 

Want to see what they produced? Keep in mind that due to the nature of a wiki, what you read now has likely been edited by other users (which builds in another information literacy lesson for the students!) but I am delighted that this site that is accessed by millions worldwide is now broader and more inclusive.

• James "Duke" Aiona
• James Armistead
• Claudette Colvin
• Misty Copeland
• Evelyn Boyd Granville
• Madhur Jaffrey
• Daniel James, Jr.
• Sybil Ludington
• Wilma Mankiller
• Marissa Mayer
• I.M. Pei
• Molly Pitcher
• Raj Reddy
• Sonia Sotomayor
• Maria Tallchief
• Vivienne Tam
• Ahmed Zewail

The joys of storytelling!

Storytelling is experiencing a revival these days, from exposure on podcasts such as The Moth to the thousands of attendees at the National Storytelling Festival to local guilds and events, such as our own PowellsWood Storytelling Festival every July.

 

I bring one or two storytellers to campus every year to expose students to this wonderful art, and also engage students as active tellers through games and activities.

The National Storytelling Network's position paper on the importance of storytelling in education, says that "Storytelling helps students be active not only in presenting but also in focused listening and reacting, enhancing the vital skills of communication. Storytelling is an ancient art that strengthens and enhances skills that children need to acquire to function in today’s world." Of course, it is also a great deal of fun!

Fourth graders spent a couple of weeks playing storytelling games in pairs and circles. Finally they each learned and performed - in one class session - a Russian folktale from one of Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss' books. First they practiced telling the story to the wall, then to a partner (see above). Next, some volunteers shared their versions with the whole class. Check out these wonderful examples:

The Biggest Lie, version 1 

The Biggest Lie, version 2

The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake.. and the OWS kids who were hot on its trail!

The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake by Robin Newman is a new beginning chapter book that introduces a pair of intrepid mouse detectives hot on the trail of a dastardly cake thief! In Kindergarten and First Grade we spent several fun weeks on this story which is full of clever puns and word play. Readers also have to pay close attention to the clues to figure out who might be guilty...

First we discussed the mystery genre and some specialized vocabulary words. To test students' skills as witnesses, I asked them what Ms. Bishop, our LLC Assistant, was wearing as they'd walked past her just a few minutes before. Here is a typical set of answers and a shot of what Ms. Bishop was actually wearing that day:

Next, we started reading the book, taking notes about the various suspects in our detective notebooks:

We discussed our suspicions with classmates and wrote down our conclusions before reading the final chapter and discovering whodunit... (You'll have to read the book yourself to see if this guess is correct!)

The real icing on the cake was our video chat with the author! Students were full of great questions and Robin gave us an interesting glimpse behind the scenes.

Here they react with stunned surprise upon discovering that the process of writing and publishing the book took 8 years! (Not the "couple of months" they had guessed!)

Not only did we have a lot of fun with The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, but students learned the importance of paying close attention to information in texts and making predictions, as well as a better understanding of all the hard work that goes into being an author!