Seeing Ourselves When We Read…Appreciating Others
We all love to “see” ourselves in whatever we read. We relate, sometimes, to the way characters look or act, sometimes to the feelings that we ourselves have experienced, sometimes to the places that are described or the situations that are familiar. Even when we read of adventures or circumstances that are riveting because they are new or foreign to us, we connect with emotions based on our own fears, happiness, excitement.
We also are curious about how others see and experience their environment, the people in their world, the circumstances they face. Reading can carry us deep into the lives and minds of people very different from us – at the same time, it reveals to us how much alike human beings are, in spite of our differences.
Let me introduce you to the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL) that is dedicated to “[preserving] the richness of many cultures in the field of children’s and young adult literature”. The organization sponsors activities for libraries to promote multicultural literature for children and young adults. They have a non-circulating collection of children’s books on-site – both recent and historically significant – and they seek contributions of multicultural book manuscripts and materials that are used to create such books.
CSMCL has just released its list of the best in multicultural books for 2021. You can find the list on their website at: csmcl.org.
If you’re looking for thoughtful gifts for children or young adults this holiday season, check it out!