Book Review: Ballerina Dreams

Thompson, Lauren. Ballerina Dreams. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2007.

Ballerina Dreams is about five little girls with cerebral palsy who have a dream of being able to dance. They have their first big recital for their friends and families and are extremely nervous for it. But with the help of their teachers they accomplish this dream and perform their very first ballet recital. At the end of their performance each girl receives a red rose and an “I’m so proud of you” from their teacher. These girls could never have been happier.

The author, Lauren Thompson had spent many months working with these five girls to really get an understanding of what their disability is. She had spent time in physical therapy centers to get as much first hand experience as she could on the struggles these girls face because of their cerebral palsy. Although Lauren doesn’t have cerebral palsy herself, she is still considered an insider to this disability because of the research she has done to become knowledgeable about cerebral palsy. She wrote this book as a true story of these five girls who dream of becoming ballerinas as an inspirational tool to others with the same or similar disabilities. She is also very informative of what cerebral palsy is within this book as she describes the difficulties these girls can face. She even included additional information at the end of the book in case readers want to know more about the disability.

Ballerina Dreams is a great representation of a diverse piece of literature. Thompson did a great job of showing how cerebral palsy doesn’t get in the way of these young girls dreams. She shows that with a lot of practice, help for their teachers, and positive attitudes these girls can become ballerinas. Thompson shows how a child can look at their disability in a positive way and shouldn’t let it stop them from doing the things they like to do. This book can be used as an inspirational tool to other children with cerebral palsy or other disabilities for the matter to show how they should never let their disability let them down or get in their way.

Confessions of a Closet Catholic

Confessions of a Closet Catholic, I thought was a great book to use to show how people, not matter what age they are, can question their religion and their beliefs. I was amazed at how Jussy who is only 11 years old, was able to think so deeply about her religious background and wonder if this is the religion she wants to follow. I know that when I was that age and even today, I never questioned my own religion. I am a Catholic and grew up with strict Catholic parents, going to church every Sunday and have the beliefs of a Catholic. I don't think it ever crossed my mind to want to be of a different religion. This is why I was shocked that Jussy was so incredibly concerned with which religion she was going to follow. I also thought it was strange that she actually studied the different rituals of a Catholic and practiced those rituals secretively in her own closet.

I was also shocked about this because of her relationship with her grandmother,Bubbe. Since her and Bubbe have such a close relationship, I would have thought she wouldn't want to do anything that would offend Bubbe and that could possibly ruin their relationship. She knew everything Bubbe had been through growing up and how important it was to her to be Jewish, so why would Jussy even start questioning that. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that her parents aren't very committed in their Jewish religion while her Catholic friends are very committed to be Catholic. So maybe she's thinking that being Catholic is better than being Jewish, which has made her want to convert.

I really enjoyed reading this book and can definitely see myself using it in my own classroom. I think this book helps to show how everyone can have their own individual beliefs and even though their parents might not agree with them right away, they will always find a way to try to understand them as best as they can and will always support them. This was what happened with Jussy, and her parents found a way to understand her and relate to her the best they could.

My Personal Philosophy

To be honest, the reason why I'm taking this course is because it took the place of one of the horrible English credits I would have had to take. I hadn't really thought about the issues of diverse literature or the importance of it. Before taking this course I hadn't really been exposed to that much diverse literature. I don't remember reading a lot of it when I was in elementary school or in high school. This class has really opened my eyes and given me a different perspective to look at. I have realized how important it is to start exposing young children to it at an early age. I think that by doing this it will help them see this other perspective and be more open to it than if they aren't exposed to it until they get older, like me. It's been hard for me to relate and find agreement with some of the issues we have been discussing in class. For example, when we were discussing the book Little House on the Prairie I had never thought about any of those issues before. When I was younger I would read a book for enjoyment, I can't remember it ever crossing my mind that a book was being stereotypical in any way. I always just believed what the author was saying and trusted their words and opinions.
So when it comes to my personal philosophy I think that it's extremely important for people to grow up learning about different cultures and diversity issues. This will help clear up any misconceptions and give people a better understanding of people and cultures around the world. I think that it's important for young children to develop the mind set that everyone in this world is unique and different in their own way, and that's perfectly okay. That doesn't make one person better than another. I think that if I would have been exposed to it more when I was younger I would definitely be more open to some of these diverse issues. I don't consider myself a racist person by any means, but some things I don't find to be as big of an issue as others. I'm glad I'm taking this course because now I will have a different mind set when I'm teaching my own students than I would have been before. I can now see how important it is to expose children to diverse literature because it is something that affects how people view things later on in life.

Aronson & Pinkney articles

After reading the Aronson and Pinkney articles, it is clear that there are two distinct view points as to whether or not books should be honored in a specific cultural/social category. Aronson is one who argues strongly against this. He claims that "it's a wrong way to bring more kinds of books to more kinds of readers. " He thinks that people might not read a particular book if it's written by an author that is of a certain race. It has been pushed that people should be reading diverse literature, but he feels that if a book is put into a certain category based on the ethnicity of the author, then it may sway a person away from reading that book. Aronson also feels that "it shifts it's focus from literature to biography"because if focuses on the authors community and ethnicity before their talent. Aronson's last point was that "we should continue to encourage diverse literature, but not predefining who will create it." Pinkney is one who argues for honoring books in specific cultural/social categories. He feels as though when a book is labeled as receiving the CSK award, then "it let's other black parents know instantly that a book has been created by someone who is black." He said that he has faced instances where his children are looking for books that are written by a black person, so he thinks that it's great having the CSK award because he can point his kids to the books they are looking for. By having the CSK award it's letting people know that there are black writers out there. Pinkney says, "These awards are meant to lift up and inspire."
When it comes to my viewpoint on this debate, I can see both perspectives. I can see how black people like having this award because then they don't feel neglected. This way they know that blacks are being recognized as well for their writing. There are way more white writers than black writers which may make black writers get lost in it all and not get as credited as they deserve. But I can also see the arguments against all of this. I can see how Aronson may think that blacks are getting recognized not for their writing but because they come from a particular ethnic group. I can see how he said that the focus shifts from literature to ethnicity. I guess it just depends on how people look at it.

Group discussion on The Heart of a Chief

When my group met to discuss The Heart of a Chief, an interesting question was asked that none of us really knew how to answer. The question was: why did teacher's stereotype Chris in his other schools? Now this wasn't something that was brought up a lot throughout the book but is definitely something to think about. My response to this question would be that maybe it's because Chris isn't afraid to speak what's on his mind. This can be seen when Chris picks the topic for his group about the Indian mascots. He knew this could be an awkward topic to talk about but he didn't care, he wanted to do it anyway. I also wonder if Chris' previous teachers had this stereotype of him because a lot of the time Indians are usually thought of as being quiet. Well Chris was definitely not a quiet student so maybe his teachers we bothered by this. Another topic we talked about within our group was how unrealistic this book was at times. Chris was trying to cover too many issues going on in his life all at once. He was worrying about his father being an alcoholic, he was trying to take care of Auntie and Doda, he was worrying about the casino issue taking place on their reservation, he was organizing this project for his class and he was also worrying about the loss of his friendship with Pizza. All of this seems like way too much for a middle schooler to have to worry about. I know that when I was in middle school the only drama I had to deal with was friend drama. I had no idea what was going on in my community or what was happening with my family members. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. Overall I thought our discussion went well and we all contributed some really good ideas about the book.

Insider/Outsider Debate

When it comes to who has the right to tell and illustrate stories about specific cultures I believe that anyone, both insiders and outsiders should be allowed to partake in this. I don't think it's fair to say that an outsider cannot write about a culture they are not from. I do believe that if an outsider is going to write about a specific culture, I think they need to do an extensive amount of research on that particular culture and/or have physically been around that culture before. This gives the author more accurate knowledge and experiences that they can write about and use in their stories. I also think that it gives a new perspective to the reader when it's written by an outsider. I do think although that a book may be a little bit more accurate and believable to the reader when it's written by an insider. I think this because insiders are able to write about real-life experiences they may have faced at some point in their life. I do believe that people should be able to write about whatever they want to write about. Who knows, someone who is not from a Chinese background could have lived there for years and could potentially write an amazing story about the Chinese culture. Although they have to be given the chance to do this.
There is just so much that plays into the idea of insiders and outsiders being able to write about a specific culture because it can be seen either way.

Introduction to TE448

My name is Jennifer Metz and I am a senior right now at MSU. I'm studying Elementary Education with a specialization in Language Arts. I am interested in learning about diverse literature because it is something I have never really studied in-depth before. Even though I am a Language Arts major, I have never read and/or focused on children's literature books, especially books that are related to diversity. So by taking this course I hope to be able to reach the needs of all my students by including texts that are diverse. Diversity is such an important issue that is often times over-looked in elementary classrooms. So throughout this semester, I hope to become more aware of diverse issues and how to approach or solve those issues. I also hope to accumulate a large list of good diverse books that I could use in my own classroom. I know we have already focused on a few diverse books during the first two class, so I hope to continue adding to that list.