- "Kids should not have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one." -Steven Ritz
- Windows and mirrors
- Explicit and implicit curriculum
- Toni Morrison-literary absence vs. literary presence _Playing in the Dark_
- Multicultural literature is global literature...how can we make it relevant in the digital age?
The Statistics
Reading Ladders
- <5.25% African American
- <3.25% Asian Pacific American
- <2% Latino
- <1.25 American Indian
- ?? Arab American OR Muslim
Muslim American Picture Book Ladder
- Objective: To find read-aloud picture books that expose students to Muslim Americans without highlighting the religion (windows and mirrors).
Muslim American Children's Literature: Reaching Multiculturalism and Ethnorelativism
The Statistics
Why Muslim American Children's Books?
- 100% have reading level of second grade and higher
- 87.5% about Arab American Muslims
- 87.5% introduce protagonist as "different" than classmates or "other"
- "If the children of second- and third-generation Muslims are to feel at home in the mosaic of North American culture, they need to see themselves and their values represented positively in literature." -Khan
- "Lifetime reading and lifelong learning." -Lesesne
Why Diversity?
- A character's Islamic identity can be like "wallpaper" or "a part of the setting-providing flavor but definitely not part of the problem" (Khan, 20, pg. 37).
- "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." -Toni Morrison
Final Thoughts
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
-Langston Hughes
Muslim American Children's Literature