Book Award Discussion

I think that our exploration of the different book awards and the reading of the Aronson and Pinckney articles really prompted some great discussion in class last Wednesday. Many intriguing issues were surfaced and I found myself double-thinking my own opinion on the matter.

After our discussion I still do believe that these specific cultural awards are very appropriate as I said in class, because they highlight excellent examples of unheard, and unrepresented voices and experiences. I think that in the classroom, as teachers there are going to be a lot of questions dealing with multiculturalism that we will not know how to answer and/or where to look. The issue of diversity and multiculturalism is one that must be presented in the classroom, and must be presented in the most effective and accurate way possible.

I am still holding strong to my belief that these awards act as an aid, or at least somewhere to begin, when searching for good examples of multiculturalism in childrens literature. While it may not be safe to assume that each award-winning piece is an ideal example or representation of a specific experience, they do pave the way for our own research and exploration of such literature.