There is a damaging lack of diversity in the literature that children encounter in primary schools, according to a primary school teacher and an academic, who detail their argument in an article published in the 30 September issue of TES.
Darren Chetty, who has taught in inner-London primary schools for almost 20 years, and Karen Sands-O’Connor, a professor of children’s literature specialising in black British children’s literature, argue that many primary school children have encountered only books with white human characters. They add that often when they do encounter characters racialised as other than white, it is tied in with the celebration of a holiday such as Diwali, or in connection with Black History Month.
“It seems reasonable to wish that children see people of all backgrounds as an ordinary part of everyday literature,” they write. “If children do not encounter a rich diet of literature at school, they are being denied key knowledge about themselves and the world. If children are not taught that they can draw on first-hand experiences when they write fiction, then they are being denied key knowledge about what it means to be a writer.”
They go on to explain how schools should and can diversify the literature children encounter and to help this process they have provided a list of 30 books, a selection of which are below.
Picture Books for Babies and Toddlers
Wriggle Piggy Toes - John Agard
Ackee, Breadfruit, Callaloo - Valerie Bloom
So Much! - Trish Cooke
No, Baby, No! - Grace Nichols
Let’s Feed the Ducks - Pamela Venus
Beginning readers
My Two Grannies - Floella Benjamin
Giant Hiccups - Jacqui Farley
Lucy’s Rabbit - Jennifer Northway
Ramadan Moon - Na’ima Robert
Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market - Chitra Soundar
Dave and the Tooth Fairy - Verna Wilkins
J is for Jamaica - Benjamin Zephaniah
Shorter-chapter books
Pig-Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman
Blackberry Blue and Other Fairy Tales - Jamila Gavin
A Hen in the Wardrobe - Wendy Meddour
Liberté: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan - Jackie Ould (edited by)
Nina and the Travelling Spice Shed - Mahdvi Ramani
Don’t Wear It On Your Head, Don’t Stick It Down Your Pants - John Siddique
Longer-chapter books
Tall Story - Candy Gourlay
The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo - Catherine Johnson
Dream On - Bali Rai
She Wore Red Trainers - Na’ima B Robert
Hurricane - Andrew Salkey
Crongton Knights - Alex Wheatle
Age 14-18 books
Chasing the Stars - Malorie Blackman
Travel Light, Travel Dark - John Agard
Midnight Robber - Nalo Hopkinson
Red Dust Road - Jackie Kay
(Un)arranged Marriage - Bali Rai
Refugee Boy - Benjamin Zephaniah
This is an edited article from the 30 September edition of TES. Subscribers can read the full article here. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here
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