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Welcome to my Literature for a Diverse Society Electronic Resource!

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Welcome to my Literature for a Diverse Society Electronic Resource!

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My name is Laurel Wagner and I am studying Elementary Education at the University of Florida. I have selected some high-quality children's literature that I plan to use in my first-grade elementary classroom to support inclusion and diversity. There are four different categories of books, each are separated with a title card for ease of access! I hope you enjoy my project!
*CW: FLASHING IMAGES/COLOR/TEXT, EXPLICIT TEXT*

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Without further ado, let's explore representation in children's literature!

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Without further ado, let's explore representation in children's literature!

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Representation of Disabilities in Children's Literature

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Representation of Disabilities in Children's Literature

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The first category of children's literature will feature main characters with disabilities.

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I See Things Differently: A First Look at Autism (2014)

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I See Things Differently: A First Look at Autism (2014)

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By: Pat Thomas
Illustrated by: Claire Keay

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Don't Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability (2001)

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Don't Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability (2001)

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By: Pat Thomas
Illustrated by: Lesley Harker

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It is important that people with disabilities are represented in children's literature in appropriate ways. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are commonly represented as "inspiration p*rn". I hope to accurately represent people with disabilities through literature in my classroom.

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LGBTQ+ Families in Children's Literature

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LGBTQ+ Families in Children's Literature

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The second category of children's literature will feature LGBTQ+ families.

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And Tango Makes Three (2015, originally published in 2005)

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And Tango Makes Three (2015, originally published in 2005)

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By: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by: Henry Cole

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Heather Has Two Mommies (2015, original published in 1989)

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Heather Has Two Mommies (2015, original published in 1989)

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By: Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by: Laura Cornell

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I plan to instruct my first grade students to create posters, just like in Ms. Molly's class, that represent their families. Students will share their posters and we will put them up on the classroom wall to show how diverse families can be. Some students may have a family like Tango's or Heather's, and children need to recognize that no matter what a family looks like, a family is still a family.

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Children need to be aware of different family structures and recognize that,

it doesn’t matter how many mommies or how many daddies your family has. It doesn’t matter if your family has sisters or brothers or cousins or grandpas or grandmas or uncles or aunts. Each family is special. The most important thing about a family is that all the people in it love each other.

(Newman, 2016)

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Even today, LGBTQ+ rights are constantly at risk. With every election, law, and policy change, LGBTQ+ rights are threatened.
For example, LGBTQ+ adoption rights are only protected in about half of the states in the U.S.

State statute, regulation, and/or agency policy prohibits discrimination in adoption based on sexual orientation and gender identity
(25 states, 1 territory + D.C.)

(via https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/foster_and_adoption_laws)

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In Florida (and many other states in the U.S.), LGBTQ+ adoption rights are not protected.

No explicit protections against discrimination in adoption based on sexual orientation or gender identity (21 states, 3 territories)

(via https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/foster_and_adoption_laws)

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Representation of WOC in Children's Literature

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Representation of WOC in Children's Literature

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The third category of children's literature will feature main characters that are women and girls of color.

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By: Charlotte Watson Sherman
Illustrated by: Akem

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By: Vanessa Brantley-Newton

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My class will make paper chains, just like in this book. Each student will color their own paper person to look like themselves. The paper people chains will be strung up on my classroom wall to showcase my diverse students.

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Representation of Bilingualism in Children's Literature

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Representation of Bilingualism in Children's Literature

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The fourth category of children's literature features books about people whose first language is a language other than English.

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By: Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

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By: Yangsook Choi

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Children need to be aware of different languages and cultures. Children who speak a language other than English need a mirror, and monolingual English-only speaking children need a window into languages and cultures different than their own.

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How To Use This Literature In The Classroom

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How To Use This Literature In The Classroom

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These books are all suitable for first grade students. I plan to use these books to promote students' awareness of various identities and cultures. My students will learn that diversity is beautiful and gain an appreciation for cultures and identities other than their own.

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“Unless you make a conscious effort to search for books reflecting a range of cultural identities, children may not find themselves in books and therefore resist reading because they see these books as threatening and demeaning to their identities and irrelevant to their lives”

(Short, K. G., Lynch-Brown, C., & Tomlinson, C. M. (2018). Essentials of Children’s Literature (9 th). Boston, MA: Pearson.)

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This literature may act as a mirror for some students and a window for others. I hope that this literature will help students feel seen and heard through literature and that students who are not part of these groups will have an awareness that they did not have before.

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I hope you enjoyed scrolling through my electronic resource! Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how to support diversity and inclusion in your classroom through the wonderful medium of literature!