Examining Multiple Perspectives Through Literature

This week, I'm taking a look at three picture books that represent a variety of perspectives and obstacles to overcome. On their own or as a text set, these books are the perfect way to spark a classroom discussion and invite students to engage critically with the text and its artistic features. Diverse texts, such as the picture books discussed below, have the potential to encourage and inspire marginalized students and readers of all ages. It is critical to include these books in our classrooms because they allow students to gain a deeper perspective on the many ways people live.

Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship

Written by Jessica Kensky & Patrick Downes

Illustrated by Scott Magoon

Red: A Crayon's Story

Written & illustrated by Michael Hall

Last Stop on Market Street

Written by Matt de la Pena

Illustrated by Christian Robinson

After suffering injuries in the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, Jessica must adapt to her new life as an amputee. With the loss of both legs, she struggles to find happiness and worries about adjusting to all the changes. Meanwhile, service dog Rescue is in training in the countryside to help people just like Jessica. When Jessica's application for a service dog is approved, she is matched with Rescue and they begin to learn just how much they can help each other.

Red is a blue crayon dressed in a red crayon's wrapper. At school, his teachers and classmates don't understand why he can't draw in red until one day, a new friend invites him to draw a blue ocean. Amazed by the new perspective of his beautiful blue drawings, the other crayons are intrigued and Red is finally free to be himself.

CJ does not want to ride the public bus. Unlike many of his friends, CJ's family does not have a car, and he is bothered by this. On this particular rainy day ride, CJ's Nana opens his eyes to the beautiful diversity of people and experiences they encounter while riding to the last stop on Market Street. From the kind guitar player to the blind man, CJ gains a new perspective on his life as he engages with his surroundings.

Appreciation of Artistic Features & Illustrations

De la Pena's poetic language lends itself to the vibrant illustrations in his Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, and Newberry Medal winner picture book Last Stop on Market Street. His unique choice of verbs throughout the text encourages students to take a closer look at the illustrations and consider what these words mean. The book is full of double spreads that are artfully designed to showcase the diversity described on each page.

Michael Hall's Red features a storyline told from the perspective of various school supplies such as pencils, crayons, scissors, and tape. Through purposeful illustrations and thoughtful words, themes of bullying, popularity, and self-expression are uncovered in a way that is accessible to a large variety of readers. Students will love how engaging and exciting this text is as Hall brings the story to life with large child-like drawings. The large font is inviting to young students, and readers of all ages will love the voice of the crayon as he finds his true self.

Written in part by Jessica herself, Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship features powerful author's note and acknowledgements pages that invite the reader to learn more about service dogs and the history behind the story. This part of the text provides factual information on Rescue and the non-profit organization that provided his service dog training. These pages are critical to the book as they demonstrate the importance of service dogs just like Rescue. A winner of the Schneider Family Book Award, the illustrations and text work together beautifully to create a touching story that makes light of the painful loss that brought Rescue and Jessica together.

Teaching Critical Literacy: Strategies for the Classroom

This particular text set is one of my favorites because it showcases people of various ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and abilities. In these books, we see genuine representation that dives beyond a superficial understanding of multicultural characters and diverse perspectives. Additionally, each book in this set offers something unique to the reader. In Rescue and Jessica, students will engage with the story of Jessica Kensky, a woman who is in a wheelchair. In Last Stop on Market Street, readers watch the story unfold as CJ and Nana ride the bus with a blind man and then serve others in a soup kitchen with a diverse population. In the book named in his honor, Red the crayon

Having these books in our classrooms is important because it emphasizes the importance in learning from and celebrating diverse perspectives. Beyond simply providing students with exposure to these texts, it is also important to hold discussions surroundings the topics we read and that we equip our readers with the tools and strategies to think critically about what they are seeing. While there are many strategies for this, problem-posing is a great way to enable students to engage deeply and think critically about the illustrations and concepts we see in texts such as the ones in this set.

I love the problem-posing strategy because it can be applied to so many things, from picture books to novels to advertisements and conversations. Since the strategy is question-based, students also learn the value of conversations and learning from the perspectives and unique viewpoints of others. This is a great strategy to teach young readers because it is so versatile and can be used for analyzing a huge variety of diverse texts and media.

Using the Problem-Posing Strategy for Deconstructing Text

In this strategy by McLaughlin and DeVoogd, students are encouraged to think deeply and critically about the text and pictures by responding to questions about the book. Possible questions might address what and who is seen in illustrations, what the author's intention was, and what messages of equity the pictures portray.

For example, as the teacher, I may choose to utilize this strategy in a picture book such as Last Stop on Market Street. This book is a great choice because of the vivid illustrations and the thought-provoking text. Students can engage in critical analysis of the book during or following a read-aloud. See below for a list of potential questions to use with this book. These questions are inspired by the examples written by McLaughlin and DeVoogd (2004). If a student in the class is non-verbal or does not wish to participate in a discussion, I may ask them to write their responses on a piece of paper. This helps to ensure that all students are able to participate in the learning.

While reading

Page 7-8: Who is in this picture? Who is missing or not shown?
Page 13-14: In this picture, who is marginalized? Whose culture is represented?
Page 27-28: What is the illustrator's purpose in this picture?

After reading

How can the reader use the message of this book to promote equity?
What does the author want us to think after reading this book?
What might an alternative book jacket look like?

When the read-aloud is finished and students have had the opportunity to respond to all questions, I would continue the conversation by asking the class why this book is important to our library. My goal is to help students see that books like Last Stop on Market Street are enjoyable, fun, and interesting and also provide us with a chance to see a perspective that may be different than our own.

Citations

McLaughlin, M., & DeVoogd, G. L. (2004). Enhancing Students' Comprehension of Text. Teaching Critical Literacy, p 34–58.