The Blog
I guess that the nuance in knowing the difference between a book that exposes harm and one that is harmful isn't as clear for everyone as it may be for me. Let me change that.
There are books that cause harm. Harm, in this case, refers to offense or insult. These are books that lead the...
I know you've been watching the news and you've probably been watching our videos on social media. We can't stop talking about what DeSantis is doing, and here's why:
1. These book banning are racist and oppressive in every way. He hides behind certain vague phrases to appease his political...
CONTENT WARNING: Some graphic, dehumanizing, and racist imagery is included in this blog for the purpose of education, analysis, and evidence.
Picture book illustrations of children of color have really positively evolved over time in the United States. Early depictions were painfully...
That might sound harsh. It might make you feel defensive. No, I'm not just talking to white people. Yes, this is to everyone.
Think about it: the way our media (books included) have centered Whiteness and kept us in the shadows has certainly shaped the way people see others and themselves....
I know people really love this book and they struggle to let it go. One of the biggest hesitations expressed is that it's a great fodder for conversations about race(ism). However, my response to that is: it's written by a White woman and it is therefore limited in its scope. There will be...
Sharing books with children is one of the best gifts we can offer. It builds relationships, literacy, and a love of learning, among other things. Sometimes turning the book gifts into something fun and active can be tricky. One time, a friend gifted my son the book Jabari Jumps...
Too often teachers aren’t readers. Too often we want our students to read and to be intrinsically motivated to learn… but we aren’t doing it ourselves. If that’s you, then I invite you to consider changing that this summer. Deciding on what to read can be quite...
Children love books and storytelling. As parents, it’s a go-to activity. In my home, my almost-3-year-old reads on her own even though she doesn’t know how to read. She loves looking at the pictures and will read for 30 minutes all by herself! I love watching her eyes scan the page,...
As part of a professional development session, we offered about racial identity and how that relates to teaching, we discussed Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We analyzed him as the first indigenous person in the Western literary imagination. We thought about how he was...
