Contribution to Diversity

Use this forum to discuss the July 2018 Book of the Month "Toni the Superhero" by R.D. Base
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xBibliobibulix
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Re: Contribution to Diversity

Post by xBibliobibulix »

Books with diversity are incredibly important right now, especially children's books, and even more especially books written by diverse authors. The author is a black woman and she brings this experience to the book and champions diversity.
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CheyenneCollins
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Post by CheyenneCollins »

It helps the race factor that a lot of people look into nowadays. It gives a touch of diversity & expands growth of heroic aspects.
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Post by Samy Lax »

You're right. This point is another one of the strengths of this book. As far as I could see, this book teaches a number of wonderful lessons that even we adults - who sometimes end up acting worse than kids - could benefit from.
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Post by Ashiyya Tariq »

CambaReviewer wrote: 08 Jul 2018, 17:20 To be honest, this social inclusion message may be obvious to adults, but for children between the ages of 3 to 6, who I think are the target audience in this book, they will hardly notice. Usually at their age, unless someone has taken great pains to teach them discrimination based on race or gender, most children will just be children and will naturally interact freely and play with each other. It is a useful message though. I did not even think about it when I read the book.
obviously at this tender age, children pay no attention to such ethnic differences. However, it's an underlying message to eradicate biasness based on ethnicity.
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Post by Ashiyya Tariq »

ereason wrote: 08 Jul 2018, 05:22 I noticed that Toni had all sorts of friends, boys, girls, diverse cultures, and also that it wasn't just Mum=chores, friends=fun. I don't think very young children will be conscious of the message, but it will (subtly, as you say) show them that friends don't have to be identical. It turns it into a non-issue before they're old to realise that once upon a time it may have been an issue.
Children are just children, free from pride and prejudice. So I think this message is more for adults who pour ethnic differences in the minds of young ones.
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Post by Ashiyya Tariq »

Samy Lax wrote: 22 Jul 2018, 22:50 You're right. This point is another one of the strengths of this book. As far as I could see, this book teaches a number of wonderful lessons that even we adults - who sometimes end up acting worse than kids - could benefit from.
This book holds good lessons for adults too. Especially when we talk about ethnic differences. This teaches us good lesson to built a strong bind between the children of different ethnicity and races.
Make your ideals high enough to inspire you and low enough to encourage you.

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Post by Ashiyya Tariq »

CheyenneCollins wrote: 22 Jul 2018, 16:31 It helps the race factor that a lot of people look into nowadays. It gives a touch of diversity & expands growth of heroic aspects.
Of course, when people belonging to different cultures are united together , it adds to cultural diversity. People learn from different cultures so do the children.
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Post by Izesicle »

CambaReviewer wrote: 08 Jul 2018, 17:20 To be honest, this social inclusion message may be obvious to adults, but for children between the ages of 3 to 6, who I think are the target audience in this book, they will hardly notice. Usually at their age, unless someone has taken great pains to teach them discrimination based on race or gender, most children will just be children and will naturally interact freely and play with each other. It is a useful message though. I did not even think about it when I read the book.
I agree with this. There might be benefit for the adults to highlight the lesson on inclusion to the child reader; however, children typically start out as non-discriminatory.
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Post by Dael Reader »

I noticed the diversity in the illustrations right away and I think the author and illustrator should be commended for being so intentional about it. It is never to early to help children see that friends--and superheroes--come in many different shapes, sizes, genders, and races.
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Post by Vscholz »

kfwilson6 wrote: 09 Jul 2018, 12:01
CambaReviewer wrote: 08 Jul 2018, 17:20 To be honest, this social inclusion message may be obvious to adults, but for children between the ages of 3 to 6, who I think are the target audience in this book, they will hardly notice. Usually at their age, unless someone has taken great pains to teach them discrimination based on race or gender, most children will just be children and will naturally interact freely and play with each other. It is a useful message though. I did not even think about it when I read the book.
I absolutely agree with you. I didn't even think about Toni or the other children's ethnicities/nationalities/races until these forum discussions began. I just saw a group of kids and the two women I assumed to be mom and sister. I think children will see this in the same light.
It is so heartwarming to think about children not seeing issues with race and viewing Toni's friends as friends rather than labeled. Because of my educational background, I almost automatically theorize about what themes are present in a text. That being said, I study children's/adolescent/YA literature not with the view of how to teach it to the target audience but instead I look at it the same way I would Shelley or the Brontes. The subtle messages play an important role in analysis and interpretation, and I love how they are used in books targeted to younger readers.
As for you & your heart & the things you said & didn't say, she will remember them all when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits. (Schmendrick the Magician)
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Post by Ashiyya Tariq »

julessawyer wrote: 09 Jul 2018, 11:20 I think kids rarely see color but racism like all prejudices is learned. It will be good to teach kids at a young age about not fearing the "others" that don't look like him/herself.
Children have no prejudices. Even maybe they will not notice this racial discrimination. It's a responsibility of parents to teach children racial tolerance. And through this book parents can perform this task easily.
Make your ideals high enough to inspire you and low enough to encourage you.

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Post by Nena_Morena »

This is a very good point. I'm really happy that this book showed how kids from different ethnicities can be friends. It's something that I teach my kids and I think a lot of adults should take this as an example.
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Post by DustinPBrown »

Sarah Tariq wrote: 25 Jul 2018, 10:11
julessawyer wrote: 09 Jul 2018, 11:20 I think kids rarely see color but racism like all prejudices is learned. It will be good to teach kids at a young age about not fearing the "others" that don't look like him/herself.
Children have no prejudices. Even maybe they will not notice this racial discrimination. It's a responsibility of parents to teach children racial tolerance. And through this book parents can perform this task easily.
Books are a fantastic way of teaching kids to develop empathy. It's the closest thing we have to living another person's life and experiencing what they've gone through. I'm very glad this book does such a good job of showing diversity.
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Post by Raya raymond »

I think this book Is great to teach children about diversity and the importance of accepting each other with our differences. The portrayal of Tony as an African American kid was actually one of my favorite things about this book
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Post by Allyseria »

ereason wrote: 08 Jul 2018, 05:22 I noticed that Toni had all sorts of friends, boys, girls, diverse cultures, and also that it wasn't just Mum=chores, friends=fun. I don't think very young children will be conscious of the message, but it will (subtly, as you say) show them that friends don't have to be identical. It turns it into a non-issue before they're old to realise that once upon a time it may have been an issue.
This is exactly what I thought! I think the book is great in this aspect and I wish that more children books would do the same. I have great hopes for the next book in the series :D
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