Children’s literature, apart from its traditional use as a tool for gaining the skills of writing and reading, has its value as a provider of socio-cultural knowledge to young people who encounter it. It can open the window with unfamiliar perspectives and new horizons; it can be a sliding glass door, allowing readers not only to observe but also to enter the world of a unique experience, engaging in the wondrous universe created by the author.
Sometimes, the window or the door can turn into a mirror, where the face and soul of the reader are reflected. Reading becomes self-exploration and, ultimately, self-affirmation: “who I am in the world, and how I am different from the others.” Regretfully, it might be observed that in a modern multicultural society, not every community and not every way of life and its perception finds its reflection in the literature, including the books for the children. However, it is the essential aspect of making young people’s character, and the evidence of it will be provided in this essay.
The existing literature refers, in its majority, to the life and the worldview of white people. At the same time, as Bishop (1990) argues, in America, stories about Puerto Ricans, or Mexican Americans, are much less in number; the literature about Black Americans is more developed, however, it yet cannot be compared with the corpus of “white” stories. In this situation, the children who belong to social minorities become frustrated as they are unable to see their reflection in it, or this reflection is distorted, hurtful, and abusive. However, the lack of mentioning them in the literature is disadvantageous not only for ethnic minorities.
Likewise, it affects the children from dominant social groups, who miss the opportunity to encounter their cultural “other,” and, thus, better understand themselves. Children need books as windows to reality, not imaginary worlds; they need to understand multicultural reality to be able to act in it adequately, with their connection to others.
Apart from the general idea of cultural diversity, children can learn specific ways of behavior of different social groups, building their factual knowledge. For example, encountering a vernacular form of English spoken by Afro-Americans, makes white readers observe unfamiliar, authentic cultural patterns. Thus, the description of the life routine and thoughts of the characters from different ethnic groups may broaden children’s scope.
When children meet the poverty and struggle in the stories, they come to the question of its cause, and the answer may lead them to the bitter realization of their own contribution to it. In this regard, folk tales are of particular significance and importance, as they preserve alive the traditions and values of particular groups, and make others familiar with them. One such compilation of folk stories is Laurence Yep’s The Rainbow People, a collection of the stories of Chinese immigrants in America.
To conclude, it must be argued that, despite its power of broadening the knowledge and increasing the cultural awareness of young readers, literature has its limits. As it is obvious, it cannot stop people from expressing their aggressiveness, committing discrimination, or any maltreatment caused by racial inequality. On the other hand, it can help young members of the society to know each other better, and this is ultimately the source of tolerance and true humanity.
Work Cited
Bishop, Rudine Sims. “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors,” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, vol. 6, no. 3, 1980. Web.