The end.

When first entering this class, I would have said that I was a very open person to diverse literature. I also would have said that I knew a lot about diverse literature and its importance to include it in my future classroom. After this class, I can surprisingly and happily say that my thinking and knowledge has completely evolved into something much greater than I could have imagined.

The topic that I have learned the most about that I never had considered before is the insider/outsider debate. I had originally found this issue very interesting in the beginning of the year, and even after we learned about it, I was still pretty ignorant regarding this topic thinking that it didn’t matter. However, as the semester moved on, I found myself thinking more and more about how I couldn’t imagine someone else writing a story about something that they do not know. Now, I realize the importance of insider authors and the huge role they play in authentic diverse literature.

Another important thing I have realized is the extent of multicultural literature that is available or not available for my future classroom. I never thought that is was necessary to find high quality authentic literature. I used to think anything is better than nothing. But now I realized the importance of choosing and selecting high quality literature that represents and is available for ALL students, whether or not if they are included in the classroom or not.

Now, after this class, I will be very thoughtful in choosing literature that is for all students whether or not they are in the classroom. Multicultural literature is for all students whether or not they are included in my future classroom. Multicultural literature can bring so much to a classroom and to the students. Students will find it enjoyable, and they will gain information and challenge their previous ideas.

Critical Review of Monster- African American Children's Literature

Staunton, John A. “Monster”. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. Newark: May 2002. Vol. 45, Iss.8; pg. 791.



There are many critical reviews on the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers focusing on violence in young adult literature. There was one in particular, that differed from the rest, which aided in critically analyzing Monster as a diverse literature. After reading this critical review by John Staunton, one will find that it is a very strong review which gives the reader a better insight of why and how Myer’s wrote Monster the way he did. Staunton has obviously read Myers past books and it was very beneficial to read about the other common themes and messages that are prevalent.

Staunton discusses that in his past memoir, Bad Boy, on the very first page Myers starts off "Each of us is born with a history already in place.... While we live our own individual lives, what has gone before us, our history always has some effect on us" (p. 1). After reading that quote about Myers past work it gave a lot of insight of how he wrote Monster. Staunton asserts that the “influence of history and culture upon individual identity is a common theme in Myers work.”

The theme that Staunton argued from Myers past books, brings up a very important question within multicultural literature that is not often focused on. How much does one’s history and culture really have an influence on individual identity? In Monster this is brought up in multiple ways and can have multiple interpretations. I am very curious to hear other people’s opinions and ideas!

Monster- African American Children's Literature

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

Steve Harmon, who is a 16 year old, African American student interested in filmmaking. He is also in jail and on trial for his supposed role in a fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. “Monster” is what the prosecutor called him for supposedly being the lookout who gave the “all-clear” to the murderer. This book is uniquely written as Steve writes about his experiences in the form of a movie screenplay. The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride throughout the novel, constantly questioning whether Steve is guilty or innocent. Monster has won several awards including the Coretta Scott King Award, Michael Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. It is also a National Book Award Finalist.


The first impression a reader will get from this book is a very strong one. The cover of Monster shows a negative image African American with the words “New York State Correctional,” along with an arrest sheet along with fingerprints. This plays an important role in how this story is portrayed because after seeing the cover, the reader will already create stereotypes and Steve’s history will already have an effect on them. However, within the first page of Monster, the reader is surprised when their stereotype of an African American juvenile delinquent states that “The best time to cry is at night when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and is screaming for help.” This image is a very strong image that will captivate readers from the very beginning. It also is a very strong image that will play an important role within the story as a diverse piece of literature, of how easily stereotypes can be created. This book is an authentic piece of diverse literature that provides knowledge and will change the way that students view the stereotypes of the typical “African American criminal” that is so often portrayed in the media. Monster will aid students in critically inquiring by questioning and challenging about this topic further.

Bright Eyes, Brown Skin- African American Children's Literature

Hudson, Cheryl Willis and Bernette G. Ford. Bright Eyes, Brown Skin. New Jersey: Just Us Books, 1990.




This book is in the form of a poem emphasizing the beauty and characteristics of all children and African American children in the form of the children enjoying typical activities at school. The children are very positive and portrayed as having lots of confidence and self-esteem. It celebrates a positive self-image of African American children by using phrases such as “teeth that glisten” and “very special hair and clothes.” This book is written by an insider author, Cheryl Willis Hudson, who is a co-founder of Just Us Books, Inc which is a premiere publisher of African American Interest books for children and young adults. Their website is a very valuable website for other high quality, authentic African American texts: www.justusbooks.com


This book is intended for students of preschool or kindergarten age. Hudson starts off the story as describing the characters in the story as “Bright eyes, brown skin.” This establishes with the readers the race of the characters in a very positive way. Hudson continues by very thoroughly depicting the children in the story as average, typical children by stating their characteristics that all children have such as “Bright eyes, cheeks that glow, chubby fingers, ticklish toes.” The drawings, which are also illustrated by an insider illustrator, George Ford, portray the children as regular students who go to school, and their routine activities. Hudson has done an excellent job of writing an authentic book that can build self esteem and positive self-image in African American readers. She is also successful in writing a book that outsiders can read and enjoy that will promote a message of inclusion and acceptance. Overall, this book is outstanding and should be included in every preschool classroom to promote a positive image and acceptance of African American students.

Jamal's Busy Day -African American Children's Literature

Hudson, Wade. Jamal’s Busy Day. New Jersey: Just Us Books, 1991.




Jamal is a smart, strong, motivated, energetic, young African American who is shown making all the preparations for school that day. After getting ready and having breakfast with his parents, an architect and an accountant, Jamal goes to school. Throughout Jamal’s “busy day,” Jamal compares his “work” to the work of his parents such as doing reports, working with numbers and taking a crowded bus home. This book is written by an insider author, Wade Hudson, who is a co-founder of Just Us Books, Inc which is a premiere publisher of African American Interest books for children and young adults. Their website is a very valuable website for other high quality, authentic African American texts: http://www.justusbooks.com/


This book is labeled as apart of the “Feel Good Series” which is truly what this book accomplishes. Jamal is portrayed as an empowered child, who is very motivated and has a strong work ethic. His parents are depicted as serious professionals, who are both in much respected professions. The way in which this book is written sends a message to students that working hard pays off and can make you happy. It emphasizes a successful African American family through pictures drawn by George Ford. This book is essential in every classroom as a piece of diverse literature because it is a positive portrayal of an African American family that is not only average, but better than average. It encourages a positive self-image to African American readers while illustrating the characters in a realistic matter. It also promotes to outsiders acceptance and respect.

The Final Project!

There have been many inspirations for me in choosing African American Children’s Literature as my final research topic. The first inspiration is reading an article by Rebecca Wheeler and Rachel Swords on code-switching for African Americans who you the BEV (Black English vernacular) in my TE 301 class. This article really sparked my interest, because before reading this article I had never considered the idea of how to effectively teach mainstream English and the BEV. I am also inspired by student teaching in an urban school district where there is a high percentage of African American students. Within this experience, I have felt like this group of students is not included in school libraries or classroom assignments. I think that it is so important for children of underrepresented groups to feel included in classroom literature. So it is my goal to find authentic, high quality pieces of literature that share knowledge and information with students but are also enjoyable for students. Right now, I am very excited to read Monster, by Walter Dean Myers. It has won many awards for its high quality of text. I am enthusiastic to put it to our class standards of analyzing diverse literature! Through doing this project, I hope to improve my skills on critically analyzing books, specifically focusing on African American children’s literature, which will aid me in choosing books for my future classroom library.

I am in TE 448 for many reasons. The main reason I took this class was for professional development, because multicultural literature was an area where I felt my knowledge was lacking. I joined this class to become more familiar with multicultural literature. I wanted to extend my current knowledge about diversity in children’s literature to become a more critical reader. I am now very interested in becoming more acquainted with rich, high quality, authentic literature that I can use in my future classroom along with valid professional resources that I will be able to come back to later on. “Children deserve the best, they deserve, authenticity and truth, and they deserve books of artistic and literary merit.” (Ada, 37)

This class connects to my professional goals in many ways. For myself, as a professional, it helps me get closer to my goal of creating my own beliefs and strategy of how to select authentic literature. It also helps me strengthen my ability to critically read diverse texts. For my future classroom, this class helps me accomplish my goal of creating a classroom community where all students feel, respected and appreciated for who they are.

Issues of diversity play a very important role in literacy teaching and learning because literature has great power to represent a generalization, stereotype or image to children regardless of if it is positive or negative. This means that there is even more pressure on the educator to make sure they are choosing high quality texts that accurately and authentically represents an underrepresented group.


Ignorance is one of the biggest weaknesses in our society. I feel that multicultural education is essential in every classroom and curriculum to help alleviate this problem. It helps students understand and gain an appreciation for underrepresented groups in the world or those groups who are defined by other features of class, race, gender, etc. Multicultural education is important because it helps promote student to appreciate diversity and varying perspectives on social issues. Multicultural literature is beneficial because it offers knowledge and information on different perspective of something than what we aren’t normally used to. As we have learned from reading works by Rudine Sims Bishop, “Students who retain such a perspective, because they have learned to take their privilege as a given and have not been taught to question the status quo, are likely to perpetuate the discrimination and oppression that multicultural education is supposed to eliminate.” (Bishop, 5) Multicultural literature also helps students make a connection to their own lives. Bishop states that “students who do not see any reflections of themselves or who see only distorted or comical ones come to understand that they have little value in society in general and in school in particular.”(Bishop, 5) It applies to all students, whether they can relate and make a personal connection, or learn something new about a different group.

The thing that most concerns me about multicultural literature is that it is very difficult and hard to find “the perfect book.” I feel that there are millions of books which accurately portray an experience, but at the same time, offer a perspective that is degrading to another group. Of course, I will never find a “perfect book.” Instead I will just need to learn to adapt to creating effective lesson plans that offer varying perspectives of issues, which help correct misconceptions and stereotypes.