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What suggestions do you have for future teachers, librarians, and parents in regard to children's literature and its representation of your chosen culture specifically (and all of the class's chosen cultures generally)?

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What suggestions do you have for future teachers, librarians, and parents in regard to children's literature and its representation of your chosen culture specifically (and all of the class's chosen cultures generally)?

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In regard to children's literature and its representation of hispanic culture--and all of the class's chosen cultures generally--our suggestions would be to do research to ensure the authenticity of not only the content and culture presented in the book, but the authenticity of the author themself. This includes doing research about the author's background and experiences to ensure that they are informed and/or experienced enough to educate readers about the culture or topics presented by their literature.

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What is your group's understanding of the role #OwnVoices books play in contemporary and future society?

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What is your group's understanding of the role #OwnVoices books play in contemporary and future society?

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We want our diverse texts to be written by a member of the community from which it depicts. We want to make sure the author is writing inside their experiences to tell diverse stories to keep away from stereotypes and harmful portrayals. The author who is part of the culture has a deeper understanding of that particular life. Being aware of the stories we seek out and consider the perspectives of the people who are writing those stories.

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Are there any stories or voices from your cultural group that you feel are missing from your representative novels? (e.g. a particular ethnicity or cultural subgroup, a gender, an age, etc.)

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Are there any stories or voices from your cultural group that you feel are missing from your representative novels? (e.g. a particular ethnicity or cultural subgroup, a gender, an age, etc.)

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While our book specifically focused on Mexican immigrant culture, we could expand on this by discussing immigrants from several other cultures. We could include more texts and use the video to display perspectives from multiple other cultures.

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What contemporary issues surround the representation of your chosen culture specifically (and all of the class's chosen cultures generally) in the world of children's literature?

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What contemporary issues surround the representation of your chosen culture specifically (and all of the class's chosen cultures generally) in the world of children's literature?

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With any book that we read in classrooms we need to make sure they don't subscribe to any stereotypes or discriminations against a group of people. For this culture specifically, the border crisis is an issue that is a current event. Some of these books provide perspective about  the danger and social implication of crossing the border as in Dreamers and Me Dicen Guero.

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How did the books you read as a group add to your understanding of this scholarly discussion/debate?

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How did the books you read as a group add to your understanding of this scholarly discussion/debate?

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The books we read helped us understand the immigrant perspectives within our scholarly discussion. Many struggles come with living in a new country including the language barrier and the academic aspects that come with the upbringing of children. Our texts showed the multiple perspectives of parents, children, and other family members that we would not be able to personally relate to. The children's books put a face and a character to the struggles brought about in Brokering Tareas. The video had the same effect, including real people discussing their concerns from not just Mexican culture, but others as well.

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A World Unknown: Immigrant Parent Experiences with the School System

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A World Unknown: Immigrant Parent Experiences with the School System

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Video posted by John Humphrey Centre

Genre: Nonfiction Documentary

Summary:
This short documentary involves interviews with several immigrant parents. These parents share their hardships with attempting to give their children an education in Canada, after immigrating from their country of poverty. "This video is intended to tell their story to educators so there is a better understanding of the unique needs of youth coming from countries of war or high poverty" (Jhcentre, 2010). These parents share their struggles including helping with homework, lack of communication and information from the schools, fears of school authority, isolation from the community, and much more.

"All the kids, whether this size or that size, when they come home, they come with assignments, many assignments. To be helped by their parents, there’s a place to be signed and there’s no time for the father or mother because they’re working. The other thing is, these parents, they come from Africa or from Sudan, like what this man is saying we brought kids to be educated. We are not educated. How do we help these people with the assignments?" (2:13-2:52)

Jhcentre. (2010, October 28). A World Unknown: Immigrant Parent Experiences with the School System. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CQ61S10QrM&t=2s

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A World Unknown: Immigrant Parent Experiences with the School System

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by Duncan Tonatiuh

Tonatiuh, D. (2014). Separate is never equal: The story of Sylvia Mendez and her family. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Genre: Biography

Awards:
-2015 Pura Belpre Award
-2015 Tomas Rivera Mexican American Book Award

Summary: Sylvia Mendez move to California and find that in order to be enrolled in school, she and her siblings have to go to the "Mexican" school. This then rolls into numerous court cases to get the segregation in schools to be no more. Her family and other community members work hard to abolish the segregation in the schools. They end up winning and Sylvia and her family are able to be enrolled in the public school. This story deals with diversity in many ways. It is a story about the court cases that occurred nearly 10 years before Brown v. Board of Education. The family is discriminated against simply because of the color of their skin. There are also hints of Spanish in the book that is then translated into English for the reader. This book is very diverse and can be used perfectly to teach about diversity to younger aged kids.

https://socialjusticebooks.org/separate-never-equal-sylvia-mendez-familys-fight-desegregation/

"'Cuando la causa es justa, los demás te siguen.' 'When you fight for justice, others will follow.'" (pg. 33)

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by Duncan Tonatiuh

Group.Tonatiuh, D. (2010). Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin.New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards:
- 2011 Pura Belpre Award

https://www.adl.org/education/educator-resources/childrens-literature/dear-primo

Summary: As with Separate is Never Equal, Duncan
Tonatiuh--a Mexican-American author--illustrates the characters in Dear Primo with the same authentic Cubist style. The book goes back and forth between Charlie and Carlitos as they tell about the differences in the countries in which they live. For example, Carlitos talks about the rural, farm environment in which he lives in Mexico, and Charlie talks about the city in America in which he lives. Carlitos gets to school by bike, while Charlie gets to school by taking the subway. Carlitos' letters include many Spanish words, such as bicicleta, perros, and quesadillas just to name a few. They even discuss the different traditions that they have: Dia de los Muertos and December Posadas for Carlitos and Thanksgiving and Halloween for Charlie. At the end of the story, both boys have the idea that they should visit one another. In Mexican culture, family is a top priority, so I feel that this book certainly aligns with these Mexican values.

"I just got a letter from my primo, my cousin, Carlitos. I live in America, but he lives in Mexico, where my family is from. Maybe someday we'll meet!" (pg. 1)

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by Junot Diaz

Diaz, J. (2018). Islandborn.Manhattan, NY: Penguin Young Readers

Genre: Fiction

Awards:
- 2019 Pura Belpre Award

Summary: Junot Diaz, a Dominican-American author, tells the story of a young girl, named Lola. She goes to a school where students come from all over. Their teacher asks them to draw a picture of the country they are originally from. Lola becomes discouraged when all of her classmates can remember their home countries, but she was too young when her family moved to remember hers. Lola goes around asking everyone from her country about what it was like. They tell her everything from bats as big as blankets, to music, to tasty mangoes, to a monster that many brave people on the island had to stand up to. This monster, upon further research, is representative of a political power that once controlled the country. With the help of her fellow Dominican friends and family, Lola is able to create a beautiful book of the island and realizes that although she does not remember it, her country and its culture is her.

https://socialjusticebooks.org/islandborn/

"But then I realized that I don't have to feel bad because even if I'd never set foot on the Island it doesn't matter: The Island is me." (second to last page--no page numbers)

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By Yuyi Morales

Morales, Y. (2018). Dreamers. New York: Neal Porter Books/Holiday House.

Genre: Autobiography

Awards:
Kirkus Prize for Young Children's Literature, California Reading Association Eureka! Silver Honor Book 2018, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book Award 2018, Pura Belpre Illustrator Award 2019

Summary:
Yuyi Morales and her infant son left everything they had in Mexico to live in America. Yuyi spoke no English and this transition was not easy. There was so much Yuyi didn't know and she was too afraid to ask. One day, Yuyi and her son discovered the public library. This became a sense of home for the two as they began to read, write, and adapt. Now both Yuyi and her son know how to use their voices to work towards their dreams.

"Books became our language, books became our home, books became our lives. We learned to read, to speak, to write, and to make our voices heard. Someday we will become something we haven't even yet imagined." (pg. 21-24)

https://socialjusticebooks.org/dreamers/

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By Meg Medina

Medina, M., & Dominguez, A. (2015). Mango, Abuela, and Me. Candlewick.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards:
-  2016 Pura Belpre Author Award Honor Book
-2016 Pura Belpre Illustrator Award Honor Book

https://socialjusticebooks.org/mango-abuela-and-me/

Abuela came to visit Mia and her parents in the city. Mia realizes that Abuela doesn't understand English when she tries to read her a book the night of her arrival. Throughout the book, Mia helps Abuela learn English and Abuela helps Mia learn Spanish too. Mia puts cards in English around the house to help Abuela learn the names. English is still difficult for Abuela so as Mia and her mom stop by a pet store. She convinces her mom to buy a parrot for Abuela. Together they named it Mango. Mia gets the perfect idea of how to help the family communicate better with the help of Mango.

"But best of all, now when Abuela and I are lying next to each other in our beds, our mouths are full of things to say."

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by David Bowles

Bowles, D. (2018). They call me Guero: A border kid's poems. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press.

Genre: Poetry

Awards:
-2019 Pura Belpre Award

Summary: Alvarez is a young boy that everyone calls Guero because of the color of his skin. He is a child of two cultures and has learned to float between the two. He speaks Spanish with his elders, but English with his teacher and friends at school. Guero writes in English and he decides to write in poetry. He uses his poetry to get his thoughts and feelings down. This story is diverse because it is the story of a kid from the border that has difficulty balancing his two cultures. He is called Guero because of the color of his skin but does not let it get to him. David Bowles writes in a way that allows for the reader to see into the culture and show them how a child can balance the cultures.

https://socialjusticebooks.org/they-call-me-guero-a-border-kids-poems/?hilite=%27They%27%2C%27call%27%2C%27me%27%2C%27guero%27

"A modest home, sure, but inside its cozy walls we celebrate all the riches that matter." (pg. 14)

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ByJuana Martinez-Neal

Martinez-Neal, J. (2018). Alma and How She Got Her Name. Candlewick.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards: 2019 Caldecott Meda

https://socialjusticebooks.org/alma-got-name/?hilite=%27Alma%27

Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela thinks she has way too many names. She turns to her dad for answers to her long name. She then learns the history of the person behind each of her names. Sofia, the grandmother who loved flowers and books, Esperanza, the great-grandmother who enjoys traveling, and the rest of her ancestors who had stories to tell. She realizes that one day she will have her own story to tell through her own name. Alma.

"Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela! That's my name, and it fits me just right! I am Alma, and I have a story to tell."