Final Project - Reflection on the Process

Finding the picture books I wanted to use for this project was indeed a chore. I found a lengthy list of picture books on a website, so I used that list to try to find these books in bookstores in the area and the East Lansing Public Library. After going to a local bookstore, one of the books I wanted to use was sold out and only two other ones were available, Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate. Any other books that were listed on the store's website had to be special ordered. I wondered why exactly this process was so difficult. There seems to be an adequate amount of books out there in the world, but they aren't being mass produced to be a fixture on the shelves at each and every bookstore. Overall, I was happy with the books I found, but I definitely would have liked a larger selection to choose from. I'm left wondering when the time will be that these books are readily, and easily, available for their young audience.

The part of the process that had me doing the most thinking was after reading Leslea Newman's "Heather and her critics". She really made me very aware how important it is to include literature that may stray from the "mainstream" but it is meant to show its readers how to respect people from all areas of diversity. Children themselves need to see themselves in the literature they read in order to have self-acceptance. Instead of succumbing to the fear of people's differences, the world, beginning with its chilren, should learn to embrace all people. The literature that children read and are presented with can be a first step.