Many Books, Many Stories

Using Children's and Young Adult Literature to Open Classroom Conversations

Kathleen Olmstead, Serena Troiani, Kathleen Olmstead, Serena Troiani

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781433199141, 9781433199134
• eBook ISBN: 9781433199158
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages

Many Books, Many Stories aims to provide both the rationale for engaging in work with inclusive children's and young adult literature and the resources necessary for teachers, counselors, librarians and school administration to incorporate diverse literature into the classroom or into school-wide contexts. The authors provide multiple perspectives and examples of texts that open conversations about powerful topics and ideas that arise in many children's and young adult books. Indeed, it is not enough to just have access to many stories; teachers must consider the ways in which they can engage in discussions around books and their importance. This volume serves to prepare both teacher candidates and in-service teachers to become reflective practitioners who embrace responsive literacy instruction and who work to ensure equity in literacy education. Therefore, this book serves as a resource to guide educators with both pedagogy and curricular content—embracing stories and amplifying voices with children's and young adult literature.

"The collection of chapters in this volume is inspiring. Striking a perfect balance between theory and classroom practice, this volume provides a convincing reason as to why the use of children's literature is critical and necessary in today's universities, schools, and classrooms. The editors have done an excellent job in collecting a diverse set of engaging and insightful chapters to discuss matters of race, identity, inequality, and diversity."

—Bobbie Kabuto, Professor of Literacy Education, Queens College, CUNY

"This thoughtfully edited collection brings together a powerful collection of educators to discuss a crucially important topic in classrooms today. The authors push the reader to question and critically reflect on how they can use literature to facilitate important conversations about diversity. The chapters challenge thinking but also provide multiple examples and the resources that will enable educators to provide spaces in the classroom for children to see their lives reflected in literature."

—Sinead Harmey, Associate Professor in Literacy Education, IOE, University College London's Faculty of Education and Society

Table of contents

• Cover
• HalfTitle
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Part One Embracing Many Stories in the Classroom: Working with Preservice Teachers to Make Conscious Choices About Text Selection
• 1. “They are not the common stories that we were told, or that we have been asked to teach”: Re-envisioning Classroom Libraries Through Inclusion of Global Children’s Literature
• 2. Shifting the Discourse of Expertise Through Engagement With Quality Multicultural and Multilingual Children’s Literature
• Part Two Establishing Inclusive Spaces: Using a Critical Stance to Create Meaningful Practice with Young Adult and Children’s Literature
• 3. Embracing Our Students’ Stories Through a School-Wide Book Club
• 4. Disability and Ableism in Literature
• 5. Who is in Your Family?: Moving Toward a More Inclusive Representation of Diverse Families in Children’s Literature
• Part Three Taking Action: Engaging Students in Literature-Based Discussions for Change
• 6. Reflections on Disrupting Historic Understandings and White Lenses on Teacher Pedagogy & Practice
• 7. Anti-racist Teaching Using Young Adult Literature
• 8. Empowering Students to Engage in Global Children’s and Young Adult Literature Through Multimodal Practices Using Instructio al Technology
• Contributors