Reflections of the development of african american children s literature religious diversity children s literature green.
Mirrors windows and sliding glass doors essay.
All young readers need more books with characters of all ethnicities and backgrounds having a diverse range of experiences.
Read her essay mirrors windows and sliding glass doors.
These windows are also sliding glass doors and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author.
They become windows when they offer a different view into the lives and experiences of others and doors that allow children to trust their.
When lighting conditions are just right however a window can also be a mirror.
Bishop s work is simple.
Mirrors windows and sliding glass doors originally appeared in perspectives.
The idea behind dr.
Choosing and using books for the classroom.
Additional resources we used in class.
The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children s author virginia hamilton.
Mirrors reflect a child s own life experiences.
Rudine simms bishop coined the terms in her 1990 article mirrors windows and sliding glass doors originally published in the ohio state university perspectives.
Choosing and using books for the classroom.
It has been twenty nine years since rudine sims bishop s seminal essay mirrors windows and sliding glass doors was published.
Professor rudine sims bishop has suggested the best children s books are mirrors windows and sliding glass doors in her seminal essay in 1990.
Speaking to the lack of children s books with african american characters and themes the essay called for books to act as windows and mirrors that would allow all children to see themselves and the experiences of others in what they read.
This essay originally appeared in perspectives.
Choosing and using books for the classroom vol 6 no 3 summer 1990 and the hopes it expresses are just as relevant today.
Bishop makes the point that it s crucial for children from marginalized groups to view themselves in the books they read.
Check the reading rockets site for several video interviews and a handful of links one of which connects to her seminal essay mirrors windows and sliding glass doors.
In the essay dr.
Jo refers to the original essay mirrors windows and sliding glass doors pdf 763kb by rudine sims bishop.