Where Will I Go From Here?

This course in multicultural literature has changed the way I think about designing my future classroom. I think about ways to incorporate the diverse literature in any way I can. It's an important theme to teach students as early as kindergarten. Children begin to develop ideas about different groups of people very early, as I have described in a previous blog. They get these ideas from their parents or even older children, and take those ideas as truth, which can then become a misconception. It is our responsibility as teachers, to nip those preconceived misconceptions as early as possible. I feel that I have come quite far since the beginning of this semester about my thoughts on multicultural literature. Before, I felt that diversity was important to teach, but I never realized to what extent it could go. It is important to keep in mind that one piece of diverse literature cannot be representative of an entire group. Everyone brings something different to the table, and should have a voice. A classroom library should represent people from all different cultures, whether those cultures are represented in your students identities or not. I still have a fear that I will come across a situation with my students where I don't have the answers for them. I understand that some questions do not need to be answered, I just hope that I can handle those "gray" areas effectively. I also am nervous about handling stereotypes. I understand that a stereotype is a generalization about a group of people, but sometimes a person of a group lives up to that stereotype for many different reasons. So, I wonder how can you teach students that it is wrong to stereotype people, but sometimes it is okay to accept s "stereotype" about a person because it is a part of who they are. Regardless, I still have high hopes for my future classroom with the inclusion of multicultural and diverse literature!

Final Reflection of Text Set

Finding Arab-American and Middle Eastern children's literature was not so difficult if you know what you are looking for. The hardest part was making sure the author was an insider author. Many books with Middle Eastern content are not written by insiders. This is somewhat discouraging, because it can mean that there a lot of misperceptions about this underrepresented group. However, when I went to the library with a list of books I wanted written by insider authors, the books started to come. I did not find as many children's picture books as I did with young adult literature. It seems that the most popular form is chapter books, which go more in depth about the culture and experiences. Finding scholarly articles about the literature was also very difficult. Most of the reviews I found were not from reliable sources or were just completely absent. The review I did find, touched a little bit on the multiculturalism presented in Deborah Ellis' The Breadwinner but that was not the main focus, which was also a little disappointing. I know there are more books and articles out there, but I have learned through this experience that they are not so easily available. I believe this project has given me an important experience to take on my future teaching journey. I realize that a lot of background research on books is absolutely necessary when choosing multicultural books for my students. It is important to choose books that are from reliable sources, authentic in content, and avoid stereotypes. I am happy with my mini text set I have created for Arab Children's Literature, and I hope to continue to find more authentic multicultural books for my future classroom.

Review of Professional Resource

When researching for professional resources about one of my books, I found very little academic writing on Arab-American Children's literature. I found one article titled, Imagining Peace and Social Justice: The Jane Addams Children's Book Award, by Susan C. Griffith and Donna Barkman. The article mostly focuses on the Jane Addams Book Award, an award which recognizes children's books that, "invite(s) young readers to think deeply about peace, social justice, gender equity, and world community." Deborah Ellis' work with The Breadwinner is recognized in a side excerpt of the article with a "Special Commendation, only the fourth in the history of the Jane Addams Children's Book Awards." Ellis was awarded this honor for her book trilogy that, "are terrifying indictments of what war can bring to children and powerful testaments to the ingenuity and strength of young people in times of war." The article does not specifically mention its focus on multicultural literature, but it does list the different books, which have won the award, many of which are multicultural. Deborah Ellis' Breadwinner Trilogy is a multicultural book which was not recognized for its diverse content but for its stories of unbelievable obstacles overcome by the young characters. While it was disappointing that I did not find an article praising the multicultural dimension of The Breadwinner specifically, it was nice to find an article with another way to award great children's books.

Source: Imagining Peace and Social Justice

Book Review: The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

The Breadwinnner, by Deborah Ellis is an inspirational story about a young girl named Parvana who helps support her family in Afghanistan when her father gets captured by the Taliban. Her mother is forbidden by the Taliban to work and her father was a teacher at a high school that was bombed. After the bombing, Parvana and her father go to the market to sell letters. When Parvana's father gets captured and taken to jail it was up to Parvana to earn money for the family. She has to disguise herself as a boy because women and girls are forbidden in the town. When Parvana's father is finally released the family's security is still up in the air because the Taliban has captured a nearby town. This book is an excellent source of multicultural literature regarding the Arabic culture. The setting and events are very real and authentic to the Middle East situations. Deborah Ellis is an informed insider of the Arabic culture. Deborah Ellis has lived with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and was able to hear many different accounts from women and their experiences from over 20 years of war. Deborah got her inspiration for The Breadwinner from a true story of a girl she met in Pakistan. BookReporter.com quotes about Deborah and her books, "She felt it was important to put names and faces to the people that we see on television."

Source: BookReporter.com 1996-2000.
http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-ellis-deborah.asp

Book Info: Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner, Groundwood Books, 2000.

Book Review: Muhammad of Mecca: Prophet of Islam by Elsa Marston

Muhammad of Mecca: Prophet of Islam, written by Elsa Marston is a historical fiction piece which attempts to be as unbiased as possible. The first chapter is an introduction, which really serves as an author's note to the reader to explain the complexities of writing a historical fiction book. Marston begins this first chapter by introducing the Islamic faith, the God Allah, and the prophet Muhammad. The very first line of the text reads, "La ilaha illa Allah... Muhammad rasul Allah." Marston explains that this statement, " is the basic creed of every follower of the religion known as Islam." Marston also explains in this introductory chapter that the past biographies written about Muhammad are biased due to religion and personal views, but she wants to write a narrative that can be as objective and authentic as possible. So, the story begins with Muhammad's life and how he became the prophet to Allah, and establish the holy book, the Koran. The story is based on historical facts and extensive research. The book also contains a timeline and glossary of Arabic terms. The timeline gives information about Muhammad's life, including all of his cultural and spiritual impacts. I believe this book to be a good source of multicultural literature in the area of Middle Eastern culture, because it provides tons of historical information about the origin of the Islamic faith, which impacts today's modern Muslims. Elsa Marston is an author with an invested interest in the Middle East. Her late husband, Iliyah Harik, was born in Lebanon, which gave Marston many opportunities to reside in and visit Arab nations and learn first-hand about the culture. Marston has published many books, which are diverse in their content containing information and characters from the Middle East.

Book Info: Marston, Elsa. Muhammad of Mecca: Prophet of Islam, Grolier Publishing, Library of Congress, 2001.

Book Review: Ramadan by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

Ramadan written by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi is a non-fiction children's book, which presents factual information about Muslims and their Islamic religion, particularly the holiday month of Ramadan. The book uses some authentic Arabic language, and explains it's meaning in English. The book is meant to inform others about the many special customs of Ramadan and the Arabic culture. Although the book is mostly factual, presenting information, it follows a young boy, Hakeem, an Arab-American, and his family through their traditions. The book begins with an explanation of what Islam is, and introduces the God, Allah. Then it explains to the reader that the Muslims follow a lunar calendar, and during the lunar month of Ramadan, all Muslims must fast every day for the entire month. Before a day of fasting the Muslims wake up early, before dawn, to have their meal called Suhur, which will provide them with energy to make it through the rest of the day. The only part of this book that I questioned the authenticity, was in the description of foods eaten at the Suhur. The foods eaten were everything from pastries, scrambled eggs, and toast to pancakes, maple syrup, and oatmeal. I guess I was expecting the Suhur meal to be authentic Arabic foods eaten at this special time. But then I had an after thought, Muslims in the United States or even in the Middle East could very well enjoy these types of foods for their Suhur, especially if it is readily available. The book focuses on all the positive aspects of Ramadan, from getting in touch spiritually, and forgiving others for all past arguments. The author, Suhaib Hamid Ghazi, was born in the United States, but later moved to Saudi Arabia, where he resided for six years. The illustrator, Omar Rayyan, worked with Ghazi to portray the book as an Arab-American family celebrating their Islamic faith. The book jacket quotes, "Mr. Rayyan included borders and panels in a more traditional Islamic style to remind us of the rich and exotic past of Islam and to create a visual contrast with the contemporary American Muslim life depicted in the story." I believe this book to be a good piece of multicultural literature because it provides many details to the religion and culture of Muslims, gives the reader some Arabic vocabulary, and takes place in the United States so it gives readers a chance to relate to the text and learn something about a culture that exists so close. Thinking back on my thoughts about the food in the Suhur, I think the author included that to provide contextual information about the time and setting and also help non-Arab readers relate to the story.

Book Info: Ghazi, Suhaib Hamid. Ramadan, Library of Congress, 1996.

Book Review: The Illustrator's Notebook by Mohieddin Ellabbad

The Illustrator's Notebook, written and illustrated by Moheiddin Ellabad is a composite of many short writings accompanied by elaborate photographs and illustrations. The brief essays on each page describe the many thoughts and experiences of the author. Each page reveals a part of the author that is personal and cultural. I believe this book to be one of the most authentic pieces of Middle Eastern literature I have come across. The book opens and reads from right to left, traditional to Middle Eastern culture. There are also peek holes through the writing that give the reader an idea of what it is like to live in the Middle East. Ellabbad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and speaks of his experiences there and other places such as the Perfume Coast and the United Arab Emirates. This book provides information about the past and present, Arabic script, food, animals, personal experience, government, henna, and many other aspects of the Middle Eastern culture. Ellabbad also attempts to compare Arab culture to European culture when he addresses the differences in skin color and reading and writing styles. The book could also be considered somewhat biographical, because it explains the different thoughts, ideas, and steps Ellabbad took towards becoming a successful illustrator and author. The last page is a brief autobiography of Ellabbad accompanied with a photo of him drawn by his son. While I was reading this book, I imagined it was somewhat representative of our modern blogs. Each page containing a new "blog post" about the author's ideas for the day. The book was very enjoyable to read and relate to, while also teaching some interesting cultural values, places, ideas, and activities native to the Arabic culture.

Book Info: Ellabbad, Mohieddin. The Illustrator's Notebook, Groundwood Books, 2006. Originally published in Arabic in 1999 by Editions Mango Jeunesse.