Celebrating Differences in Picture Books
This week I read two picture books that celebrated Differences. Red: A Crayon's Story tells the story of a crayon who's outside doesn't match its inside. Sparkle Boy talks about a little boy who loves sparkly things but not everyone likes that.
“Today you are YOU! That is truer than TRUE! There is no one alive that is you-er than YOU! -Dr. Seuss
Summary to Red: A Crayons Story:
Red: A Crayons Story follows Red who is a crayon with a red wrapping but is actually a blue crayon. They goes through this journey of just trying their best to be a Red crayon but didn't succeed. Their Teachers thought they just needed to try harder and their mom thought they needed to mix with other colors. Everyone in their life seemed to have an opinion about what they needed to do in order to color red and others seemed to bully them for being different. It wasn't until the end of the story that they tried to draw a blue sea and actually succeeded. Once they realized who the were everyone seemed to have an opinion again but this time they were supporting him.
Personal Response to Red:
I was so excited to be able to get the chance to read this picture book this week. This story is all about being true to your inner self and following your own path despite obstacles that may come in your way. Throughout this story the “red” crayon was so scrutinized for not being able to color in red. Nobody looked at who he was on the inside which was blue. Everyone wanted her, the crayon, to just be normal but she was just doing what was normal for her. This reminds me a lot of students who have ASD. These students often struggle through school because they often have different behaviors that help them deal with the world around them. People who don't understand ASD will try and stop these behaviors so that they will act more “normal.” The difficulty there is that there really is no “normal.” We all just go through life doing what we need to do to get by. There is no right or wrong way to do things. In this book Red is just trying to do what's normal for her but everyone seems to want to change them.
This book can also be related to gender identity. A person may look a certain way on the outside but on the inside feel completely different. This can be a difficult thing for somebody to come to terms with, especially a student and their families. To these students they know they are different but to them it's their normal and everyone around them may try to tell them that they’re not normal.
In this story so many people had opinions about how the crayon should behave and act and when they didn't fit those "norms" they were bullied and scrutinized. When someone with gender identity doesn't act like a girl or act like a boy they are looked at funny and people often judge them. With students who have ASD go through school they are scrutinized because they may act a little differently and even struggle with completing school work. These children are also often bullied because they may act differently than what people consider to be "normal." Most times everyone has a comment about the way they should behave or act even if they have no room to do so. As a future Teacher I see it as my personal goal to just be there for my students so they feel comfortable enough to come talk to me. This way I can help students if they are struggling with gender identity or if they are in the autism spectrum and are just having a hard time in school.
The author of Red, Michael Hall, uses crayons and modified pictures to make the artwork in his books come alive. To me the pictures look like he put scraps of paper together to make the crayon pictures. It kind of gives it a rough feel which to me helps make it feel more human since the story basically gives human characteristics to crayons. In this photo it looks Yellow and Red have been made from different scraps of paper and then put down onto a black piece of paper.
Sparkle Boy Summary:
This book tells the story of Casey who is a young boy that has a fascination with sparkly things. He sees his older sister wearing a sparkly skirt, nail polish and even bracelets and he wants to wear them too. His older sister is a little resistant to him wearing those things because they are typically girl things. Casey's parents see no harm in him wearing those things and allow him to do it. One day Casey, his sister and mom go to the library for story time and to check out a few books. Casey is wearing his sparkly things and a few older boys tease him for wearing those things. One his older sister sees others teasing her little brother for wearing sparkly things she stands up for him because Casey is her brother and she doesn't care what the others say.
Personal Response to Sparkle Boy:
Boys are supposed to be tough and not wear anything “girly” but Casey doesn't care about those gender “norms”. He sees his sister wearing all of these sparkly things and he wants to be like his sister and wear the sparkly things too. Everyone is telling him no and some even bully him about it but he decides to ignore them and just be who he wants to be. Bullying can be a difficult thing to talk about but the reality is that unfortunately so many students experience bullying at some point in their lives. Going through school I was one of those many students who experienced bullying and it made school life very difficult for me. Nothing was ever said to my face but I still felt self conscious. I was afraid people would bully me because I wore a certain thing or was friends with a certain person. Bullying is never ok and students should be taught from early on that you should not be a bully towards someone else. Everyone has a unique personality and a way of doing things and it shouldn't be something they are picked on for. This book is a great way to get the conversation started. Students can be asked questions such as, do they think a boy wearing sparkly things is weird and they should be bullied for it?, what would you do if it was your friend who was being bullied?
Taking it to the Classroom:
These stories can be used to teach students about differences and societal norms. Everybody is different and unique in their own way and teaching students about them can help everyone to just be a little more kind. Boys like Casey may like to wear "girly" things even though society may say that its not right. I want to have the type of classroom where everyone feels comfortable to be who they want to be without any judgement.
It's important when talking about these things that students understand that they cannot be bad at being themselves and there is no right way to do that. In chapter one of Reading to Make a difference by Laminack and Kelly it discusses how our identity also includes parts of us that cannot be seen. Too often we focus on our outward appearances and identities and we should focus just as much on our inner identities. Our inner identities are just as important in defining who we are as a person and can really affect how we go about in the world. “We are like every other human and yet different and perhaps even unique in other ways.” (pg. 4, Laminack & Kelly) This chapter made a great point about how we would spark a conversation about aspects of identity that are inside a person, the attributes that are not visible in a photograph. The two books I read this week really speak to this. Red: A crayons story sparks a conversation about what happens when the outside doesn’t match the inside. Sparkle Boy on the other hand opens a conversation about societal norms and expectations as they relate to and sometimes conflict with personal identity. I think it could be fun to do an all about me project similar to the one show on page 15. In Reading to Make a Difference by Laminack and Kelly. With these posters students drew a picture of themselves in the middle and then on one side they were to list what they are on the inside and on the other side what they were on the outside. This gives students the chance to think about who they are on the inside as well as allowing their classmates to get to know them better.
Meet the Authors:
Michael Hall is the author of Red: A Crayon's Story. He is a New York Times Best Seller who was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He grew up going to a laboratory school on the University of Michigan campus and would spend many weekend afternoons with his friends on the football field with his friends. As a kid he always loved creative writing assignments but he was dyslexic so it was difficult for him. It wasn't until after he had graduated from college that Michael found out about graphic design and began writing children's books. Today he has won countless awards for his books.
Read more about this author and his amazing works: https://www.michaelhallstudio.com/about/about.html
Lesléa Newman is the author of Sparkle Boy as well as 69 other children's books. She started her literary career when she was just a teenager by publishing poems in Seventeen Magazine. She wrote one of the first books to portray lesbians families in a positive way and has continued to publish books that portray lesbian and gay families. She has won countless awards for her books including two American Library Association Stonewall Honors.
Read more about her and her many works at her website: https://lesleanewman.com/
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