Week five:
Picture Books
Summary:
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This empathy filled book begins with a little girl who shares that she is building a garden with her friends. This little girl named Sonia has childhood diabetes and shares how she is similar to the flowers in the garden. "Thousands of plants bloom together, but every flower, every berry, and every leaf is different...Kids are different too...Each of us grows in our own way, so if you are curious about other kids, just ask!" (Sotomayor, S 2019). Throughout the book, each friend shares a difference they have that makes them unique and special! Then there is a fun question below to ask your students. This story was written by the US Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, about her personal story when she was diagnosed with diabetes.
My Response:
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I absolutely LOVED this book. If you have only one story in your classroom library, it should be this one. This story is not only inclusive but also educational and highlights everyones differences. Their commonality is that they want their friends to ask questions and learn about their differences. I think that this book is a heartwarming story to include in your classroom to build community and empathy for others.
All About the #OWNVOICE Author and illustrator:
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This story was written by Sonia Sotomayor, the US Supreme Court Justice. The story begins with a letter to the reader by Sonia about her personal experience with having juvenile diabetes. She explains that she wished that her peers would have asked her what she was doing instead of judging her. She hopes for others to understand that everyone is different and that your differences should empower you. In her interview (linked here), she discussed that she was in a restaurant giving herself her insulin shot and a woman called her a drug addict instead of simply asking. She hopes that this book will show people to stop making quick judgements and simply ask the person.
This story was illustrated by Rafael López. His goal as an illustrator is to help create books that highlight diversity and inclusion, He has illustrated many different books and has won different awards including the 2020 Schneider Family Book Award for the book Just Ask. In the interview above, López discusses how he believes the vivid colors in his illustrations are used to represent diversity and emotion.
Website: https://rafaellopez.com/portfolio/
Affordances/Challenges and Guiding Questions:
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This story will be an asset to the classroom not only because it shows students that their differences should empower them but also because it teaches students to not create judgements about others. The #OWNVOICES author included a personal letter to the reader at the beginning which is also a huge affordance. The bright, vivid illustrations will pull students in. Sotomayor makes the lives of these children with disabilities multidimensional by giving them an identity with many different characteristics. The child's difference is highlighted but then another amazing thing about them is said as well. By explaining so many of the various friend's differences, Sotomayor has developed a connection between the characters and the reader.
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"What will you do with your powers?" (Sotomayor, S 2019)
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I truly cannot think of a challenge with this story.
Summary:
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A Boy Called BAT is an incredible story about a young boy who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. The book starts by telling us about his differences and how kids at school laugh at him. For example, he says that he didnt like loud sounds and would use his sisters earmuffs to block them. He did not know why it was funny to others why he wore them. Bat's mom is a veterinarian and Bat loved to learn about animals. He has an animal encyclopedia which he loves. One day his mom brought home a baby skunk. Bat fell in love with the baby skunk, Kit, and knew he would have to convince his mom to keep Kit as a pet. Will it work? Read the book to find out!
My Response:
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I really loved this book. The story was cool because it discussed Bat's differences but did not emphasis that he was different. What I mean by this is that they spoke of his ASD, but did not make a big deal that he was different. His family and teacher worked together by using accommodations to make Bat's time at home or school easier for him. For example, he did not like to get wet so when it was raining at recess he helped his teacher clean out the class pet's cage. His teacher knew of his love for animals and that he would have preferred this. As a future teacher, that is exactly what we should be doing for all of our students.
All About the #OWNVOICE Author and illustrator:
Guiding Questions:
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This story was written by Elana K. Arnold. This is the first book in the series. Arnold lives in California with her family and assortment of animals. She is an avid animal lover and an author writing books for middle grades and teens. Arnold is featured in a podcast (linked here) about making neurodiversity visible. They discuss being able to empathize and understand individuals who see the world differently than a neurotypical individual. She explains her book A Boy Called BAT. She wanted to write a story about a child who loved animals named Bat and considered the possibility of making her character neurodiverse with an affinity for animals. In order to be an authentic writer, she did ample research. She made this character multidimensional by not only creating a character with ASD but also making him culturally diverse from our stereotypical white male child with ASD. This character is multidimensional because we get to know every little part of Bat which builds a relationship between the reader and character.
Website: http://elanakarnold.com/about-elana/
This story was illustrated by Charles Santoso. Santoso is an artist who enjoys creating art based off of childhood memories. He has many different sketches and illustrations in books. He also is inspired by others and his experiences traveling.
Affordances/Challenges:
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This story is an asset to your classroom because it allows the reader to further understand and empathize with this child who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. The story is written with the mindfulness to highlight his difference but not ultimately focus on them. The author shows us how his differences are strengths. The author also made Bat a multidimensional character which helps the reader to develop a relationship with Bat. In chapter twenty four, we are able to understand why Bat became upset. I think that this is an incredible affordance because sometimes we are unable to understand why our friend might be upset and how things might snowball.
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When reading this story, I think it is important to discuss that no two cases of ASD look alike. Not every child with ASD will have a sensitivity to sound. I think that this would help break stereotypes and educate others.
Summary:
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This story is about a little dog who was told he would become a service dog, instead of a seeing eye dog like the rest. The dog was apprehensive until he met his new owner Jessica. Jessica was also apprehensive and scared when she woke up in the hospital and was told she could never walk without a prosthetic leg. The story shows their relationship as they over come fear.
Guided Question Answers: ​
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1. The life of this character is presented as multidimensional because we not only learn about her new life but also the dogs. We also learn more about her than the disability.
2. The voice represented and emphasized in the story is the voice of someone who just got life altering news and is feeling all new emotions and working to create their new life. It is represented as the dog and the girl.
3. The reader is positioned to cheer the little girl and dog on as they take on their new roles.
4. The authors of this book both use prosthetic legs. This makes the authors credible to how they portray Jessica. The author created a relationship with the reader through sparking empathy.
The authors and their dog.
As We Read/Next Steps/Engagement: ​
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This story is incredibly humanizing and should be shared with students for them to build empathy and understanding.
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As I read this book with my students, I will be creating two character maps to show how the dog and Jessica's feelings are parallel. In the beginning of the book, they are both given news that would alter their lives. The dog is worried about being good enough as a service dog and branching out from the "family job" while the little girl was just told she could never walk again. In order to better understand their feelings, I will ask my students to not only look at the illustration to see how the characters are feeling but also I will have them think about how they would feel if it was them. We will be focusing a lot on empathy!
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Both of the authors lost their legs in the Boston Marathon Bombing. Students will be able to choose either Jessica Kensky or Patrick Downes to write an encouraging letter to. They will thank them for creating the book and helping us to build empathy. They will be able to "Just Ask" any questions which was encouraged in the book above: Just Ask.
References: ​
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Arnold, E (2017). A Boy Called Bat. Harper Collins Publisher.
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Kleekamp, M and Zapada, A (2018). Interrogating Depictions of Disability in Children’s Picturebooks. International Literacy Association
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Sotomayor, S 2019. Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. Penguin Random House Publishing.
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**Other references are linked to the pictures or videos***
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