Multicultural Children’s Literature is an essential form of children’s books. It is important for children who are members of minority ethnic groups be represented in literature. In the classroom it is encouraging and confirming for those students to read about someone like themselves and see their teacher get excited about a book about someone like them. The Russel text discusses how the biggest multicultural groups represented are African Americans and Native Americans. According to the text for my Reading class, the most underrepresented group if Hispanic girls. The Russel text discusses the importance of Multicultural children’s books being written by members of that multicultural group. This necessity should be more strongly proclaimed so that change can occur.

Chrysanthemum is a happy little girl who loves her name. She likes to say it over and over again “Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum.” Kevin Henkes’ use of repetition and imagery is amazing and fits perfectly into this delightful book! When She goes to school, everyone makes fun on Chrysanthemum’s name and she decides she no longer loves her name. Some of the children threaten to “pluck her” or “smell her” and the narrator tells us that poor Chrysanthemum, “wilted”. When she discovers that the beloved teacher, Mrs. Twinkle’s name is Delphinium, she blossoms! And all the other children love her name too. This story is fun and great for younger kids. The repetition and flowery imagery make it a joy for anyone to read.

Illustrations in Children's Literature

I am amazed by the way in which Children’s book authors/illustrators use the illustrations to tell a great part of the story. Many beloved books, such as Where the Wild Things Are, would not be the beloved classics they are today without their complex illustrations. Sendak’s pictures make his story and are representative of the text and themes within the story. I love how the illustrations in beginning have a large white border, which gradually becomes smaller as Max leaves civilization and enters “where the wild things are”. And the theme continues as he returns to the civilized world of white borders and text. The last page is amazing with its picture-less, white background and text. The symbolism within children’s picture books is phenomenal!

I first discovered Charlie and Lola books when I read “I am not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed” to the little girl I babysat. The heroine, Lola is about five and an independent little girl who is very sure of herself. The website http://www.charlieandlola.com/ is delightful! The site has a few clips and videos from the new tv series “Charlie and Lola” that is on the Disney Channel. There is a section on the author and illustrator of the books, Lauren Child. According to the site she won “the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal” for I will not ever NEVER eat a tomato. I assume this is an award given in the UK since that is where Child resides. It even has a section with information about how to recycle and help the planet.

There are a number of Children’s classics that have been transformed into other forms of art. Dr. Seuss’ “Horton Hears a Who” was transformed into the musical “Seussical”, which I actually got to take part, as it was our senior musical at my high school. More recently the story became an animated movie, which is currently in theaters. Some see the transformation of books into movies and plays as positive, while others see it negatively. The argument against it is that people would only see the movie and never the book, but if that is the case, they probably would never have read the book anyway. The nice thing about the transformation of books into movies and plays is that they also inspire the movie goers to read the book. This was true for me in the case of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I had never wanted to read the books until seeing the first movie, and was inspired and ended up loving Tolkien’s books. In other cases the transformed version of the book is better than the originally. Arguably, this is the case with “Wicked”, the book written by Gregory Maguire and made into a musical in 2003. The concept created by Maguire is fascinating and enjoyable, but in execution, the musical surpasses the novel.

Book 10: Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

Mo Willems has a fascinating skill with the English language. His children’s books are clever, funny and smart. Knuffle bunny Too is an adorable book that I found especially relatable. Just as the main character, Trixie, I too always carried my stuffed animal with me whenever I could, so her story was especially fun for me. Willems’ book is easy for any child to enjoy and laugh with. His books have characteristic speech bubbles for his characters along with the text on the bottom, which I think adds another layer to the book, but doesn’t the text down in any way. The artwork in this book is unique and adds a lot to the overall story. Willems takes black and white photos of the setting and adds the cartoonish characters with pen and ink. The result is fantastic.

Beatrix Potter’s books are far more complex than I ever realized as a child. That is what makes children’s books so amazing though. The author’s must have the ability to make their stories relevant to the audience and enjoyable enough to keep them still and enthralled. My brothers and I grew up reading Potter’s books and my mom and her siblings grew up reading them. The entire set of Beatrix Potter books is so fun and enjoyable. I thought it was interesting that she insisted her books be small for little hands. It makes perfect sense and also makes the books more accessible!