The Notable Books for a Global Society Project

By Tyler Waller and Hannah Wolff

Teach and Learn 307

December 06, 2019

Introduction: For this assignment, we picked only eight books, 4 chapter books and 4 picture
books to read and create an artistic responses for each. These books that have received the
Award for the Notable Books for a Global Society and were published between 2006 and 2018.
Throughout this project, we will be explaining how we selected and found the books, define our
own definition for multicultural and explain if our original definition changed as we finished this
project. We will also be stating the strengths and weakness’ for each book, as well as evaluating
the books literary elements. We hope to use the knowledge we gained from this project in our
future classrooms and hope to help both of us find ways to integrate multicultural books in our
classrooms for our students. Doing this project has helped us read through different perspectives
and will help us introduce and continue teaching about multiculturalism to our future students.

Purpose: We felt that one of the main purposes of this assignment was to expose ourselves to
books that challenge readers to learn more about other cultures, diverse people, and true
storylines. The books that we chose to read are about cultures and people unlike us and we found
this to be quite refreshing and enjoyed the opportunity to step out of our comfort zones to further
our cultural knowledge. As future teachers, this assignment is extremely beneficial as throughout
our future career we will interact and have students in our classes who are from different
backgrounds than our own. Prior knowledge of these cultures will help us relate to students and
have some background of their customs and traditions. Diversity is an essential aspect of
schooling, so it is crucial that as teachers we are inclusive of all individuals. Through this
assignment we were also able to expand our creativity mindset and create diverse artistic
response that we felt would be reflect that of the books we choose to read. This aspect was
rigorous at times, but we enjoyed looking at the books from different perspectives and then in
return creating responses that we wouldn't normally produce. The ultimate purpose of this
assignment was to explore diverse cultures and diverse responses to books.

Steps Used in Completing the Assignment: We both knew neither of us have looked much into
this project yet, but we decided to do this project together. To start this assignment, we agreed on
each of us choosing four books, 2 picture books and 2 chapter books. After that was addressed,
we set a date and time to meet and started the process of creating artistic responses for each
book. We didn’t do this artistic responses all at once but decided to take time and split it up in
half. One day we each did 2 and the next we each did 2, doing a total of 4 each. By setting the
goal each day to finish a certain amount of artistic responses, made it easy on us because we
were able to focus on each response with no stress. We noticed that each artistic response was
completed with 100% effort and creativity. In addition, instead of having each of us do our own,
we did them together. We would start on to different artistic responses but help each other out
along the way, like giving advice, more ideas, or suggestions to make our responses relate better
to the book.

Our Definition of Multicultural Literature: Before we started this project the definition of
multicultural or global literature that we came up with was literature that reflects that of a
culture, ethnicity, or religion that is different than the standard that in this case is American
culture. Living in the United States, it is common to completely forget that there are countries
outside of our own and within these countries holds an expansive universe of literature and
history. Often, these forms of literature are not explored in American English and Language Arts
courses. Through this assignment though, we got the opportunity to explore these books and our
original definition actually changed as we were working on the project. The final definition we
came up with was that it is a combination of cultures and how they express themselves through
literature and traditional storytelling and meant to be spread and shared with many cultural
groups.

Criteria for the Notable Books for a Global Society

Part I (Must meet one or more criteria from this section.)

• Portray cultural accuracy and authenticity of characters in terms of (a) physical characteristics,
(b) intellectual abilities and problem solving capabilities, (c) leadership and cooperative
dimensions, and (d) social and economic status;

• Be rich in cultural details;

• Honor and celebrate diversity as well as common bonds in humanity;

• Provide in-depth treatment of cultural issues;

• Include characters within a cultural group or between two or more cultural groups who interact
substantively and authentically;

• Include members of a “minority” group for a purpose other than filling a “quota.”

Part II (Must meet all criteria from this section.)

• Invite reflection, critical analysis, and response;

• Demonstrate unique language or style;

• Meet generally-accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written; and

• Have an appealing format and be of enduring quality.

The Eight Multicultural Titles that We Read:

I Love My Purse:
DeMont, B. (2017). I Love My Purse. Illus. by S. Wimmer. Toronto, ON: Annick Press.
Strengths: This book is extremely inclusive of all characters including many cultures, beliefs,
and interests. This book also explicitly honors and celebrates diversity as well as common bonds
as a young boy chooses to wear a purse instead of a backpack like most young boys. As the story
continues, more of the characters choose to share their uncommon interests, almost expressing
that it is okay to be different or enjoy different things.
Weaknesses: One of the criteria for NBGS is that literature must demonstrate unique language
or style, which we found to be the weakest representation in this book.

I Lost My Tooth in Africa:

Diakité, P., & Diakité, Baba Wagué (2006). I Lost My Tooth in Africa (1st ed.). New York:
Scholastic Press.
Strengths: This book is extremely rich in cultural details by displaying throughout the book the
cooking traditions and sharing the true story of the reality of African living, also sharing the
family’s fun traditions. This book also has a unique language and style because some of the
words are said in the language of African Americans and includes a translation in the story for
readers to understand.
Weaknesses: While this book reflects very well of African traditions, it does lack in the area of
inviting reflection and response where readers can reflect and relate this text to their own
personal life and experiences.

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba:

Engle, M. (2010). The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba (1st ed.). New York:
Henry Holt and Co.
Strengths: This book does a really good job of honoring and celebrating culture through unique
language represented by its poetry format. It takes on 3 different types of people and cultures that
combine to share a story of how even through different upbringing, at the root of humanity we
are all human.
Weakness: Where there is a strength, there is a weakness and we found that the weakness in this
book was that although the poetry aspect was unique it also left gaps in knowledge of the story
and thorough details of the plot.

Cowboy up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo:

Flood, B., & Sonnenmair, Jan. (2013). Cowboy up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo (First Edition.).
Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, an imprint of Highlights.
Strengths: This book is well advised in honoring and celebrating diversity as well as common
bonds in humanity because the book displays the excitement and events of the rodeo readers can
read and see that are expressed through photographs taken before, during, and after the events.
Another strength is inviting reflection, critical analysis and response towards the book because it
is about rodeo events, which readers can relate to their personal lives.
Weaknesses: We discussed the weakness for this book to be lacking the demonstration of unique
language or style. While this isn’t the weak point in the book, it is the weakest point because it
shares no other languages. But the style is interesting being in poems to express the emotions
about rodeos.

The Night Diary:

Hiranandani, V. (2018). The Night Diary. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.
Strengths: The main strength that we discussed for this book was the ability to portray cultural
accuracy and authenticity of characters in terms of physical characteristics, intellectual abilities
and problem solving capabilities, leadership and cooperative dimensions, and social and
economic status because Nisha, the main character, is writing their experiences with having to
move out of the house, how their father is taking the lead to protect his family and cooperating to
safe food and water for as long as possible. Another strength for this book is having the
appealing format and enduring quality. As stated before, Nisha, is writing personal journal
entries in her diary only at night. This gives the reader a personal connection with Nisha
understanding how she is feeling and handling this big and terrifying change.
Weaknesses: The weakness discussed was about how the book doesn’t really include other
characters other than the family. At times, we read about friends or neighbors with different
ethnicities, but throughout the book mostly focuses on Nisha and her family which lacks
characters within a cultural group of two.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon:

Lin, G., & Paul Cartwright Collection. (2009). Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (First
edition.). New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Strengths: This book exceeded in portraying cultural accuracy and authenticity of characters in
terms of physical characteristics, intellectual abilities and problem solving capabilities,
leadership and cooperative dimensions, and social and economic status; because Minli wants to
solve the problem of her family’s fortune. Along this journey, readers learn more about her life
and the characteristics around her, how she solves problems and challenges that surround her,
and how she experiences the differences in the various social and economic status’.
Weaknesses: The weakness seen in this book was that it did not talk about the in-depth
treatment of cultural issues. While this book is heart-warming and entertaining it does not bring
to notice the Asian cultural issues that women face daily.
Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting:
Murphy, Jim. (2009). Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting. New York:
Scholastic.
Strengths: This book does a fairly good job of defining the habits and thought process of 2
opposing groups that follows the NBGS standards very well. It is also very inclusive of all the
many details that went into the day soldiers stopped fighting. It’s reflection of reality is amazing
and allows readers an insight about this monumental moment in world history.
Weaknesses: One of the major downfalls of this book was that there wasn't really any inclusion
of unique language, at times it was almost as if you were reading a textbook. Which technically
there is nothing wrong with that but as a book intended for young readers it may cause them to
lose interest and stop reading the book completely. The format of the text is also interesting as it
is a chapter book but the physical book is the size of a picture book.

Jazz:
Myers, W. D., Myers, Christopher, & Paul Cartwright Collection. (2006). Jazz (1st ed.). New
York: Holiday House.
Strengths: This book is extremely accurate to the culture that is present in African American
music and upbringing and can be supported by its ability to present details that are reflective of
the culture itself. The tone of the book is inviting and explanatory of what it is like to produce
music as a African Amereican and expressing yourself through poetry and music.
Weaknesses: This book is written in poetic and lyrical format which is really unique but at the
same time, it does leave opportunity for gaps and confusion as readers read the story. This book
also doesn't touch on all the struggles that an African American may face on a daily basis or even
in the music industry.

Our chosen winner is, I Love My Purse by Belle Demont, it is a cute story about a young

boy who makes the decision to wear a purse instead of a backpack to school and throughout the

story his courage to be himself inspires others to reveal their interests that are against the status

quo. This story is intended for elementary aged readers who want to explore their individualism

and express themselves freely. This book was published in 2017 and illustrated by Sonja

Wimmer. The images of the story do a great job of expressing emotion through the use of bright

colors and detailed character drawings. This book can be used in the classroom in a variety of

ways such as inviting unique thinking and inspire children to be themselves even if it is against

the standards of common society. In doing so, this book does a stellar job of representing the

standards and criteria of the Notable Books for a Global Society mainly by honoring and

celebrating diversity. This book is super applicable to current society and the beliefs that many

individuals hold. With that in mind, this book can play a key role in expressing to students that it

is okay to be different and you should always stay true to yourself. The book is not clear whther

the main character is gay or not, so it is completely up to reader interpretation about how to

approach the main character, Charlie. The most valuable aspect of this book in our opinion was

the fact that it doesn't shove a political belief or agenda down your throat, it simply opens readers

eyes to diversity and the fact that every individual is unique in themselves. This book also

represents great appeal to children though its inviting images and important moral. This being

said, we think that it’s true value lies in the simplicity of the storyline and light hearted effort to
embrace your natural self without having to worry about the judgement of others. In addition to

the storyline, the illustrations play a key role in the success of the book. The illustrator uses

detailed colored pencil drawings to resemble each character and their reactions and expressions

throughout the story.

The two runners ups we chose for this award were, I Lost My Tooth in Africa and Night

Diary. We chose these books as runner ups because we felt that they did a good job of following

the criteria, but certain aspects of the criteria were missing in order to consider them to be the

winner. I Lost My Tooth in Africa tells the story of a young African American girl from Portland

who travels to Africa to visit her extended family. During her visit she loses her tooth and learns

about the traditional culture of African lifestyles and what the daily routine of an African

community looks like. In doing so, this book meets the requirements of portraying cultural

accuracy and authenticity of characters through rich cultural details. Through reading this book,

you can feel the essence of what it is like to be in Africa and be apart of her family. It is based on

a true story which helps to add to its authenticity and credibility of storytelling abilities. Though,

the downfall of this book is that it is hard to reflect on the storyline and students may have a hard

time making connections with the story and relating to the characters. Additionally, there really

isn't a moral or lesson that readers should know by the end of the story. The book The Night

Diary is a story based on real time events. A young girl Nisha who is half-Muslim and half-

Hindu and is unable to stay in her home in Pakistan due to being to dangerous for her family. Her

family and her are traveling across the border to safety. Throughout her journey, she writes down

the events and dates that go by during this travel. This book meets the requirements of portraying

cultural accuracy and authenticity of characters through rich cultural details because reading

through Nisha’s eyes and her personal writing makes you feel connected to her. As if you are

traveling with her in this hard time. She explains in detail about what her and her family are
going through, what she hears and sees. This book is also rich in cultural details because before

the tragic news of having to leave, you read about the amazing food that is being cooked and

traditions that done with the family.

From this assignment, we learned a lot about multicultural literature. We learned what it

means to be multicultural, what books fall into this category, what these books look like, that

these books are full of facts, the criteria that it takes for a book to be a NBGS award winner,

what makes a multicultural book good for a classroom and how much research goes into creating

a multicultural book. What we still need to learn is how you would create a multicultural book,

what specific research are writers looking for to create this book, and how to incorporate certain

beliefs and cultures in the classroom. What we would change is break this project into a long

working time. We did a good job spreading the week out and using the time we had but we

would change working on its weeks before the due date. This is a large project and requires a lot

of details for numerous parts. We each would have more time to perfect our explanations and

creations. The checklist would be a good tool to use to help us break up the project by parts each

week. We would set a goal on what to finish each week, like we did this week, but it would be

more spacious and relaxed instead of slightly rushed. This assignment ties together with course

work for this class for various reasons. One reason is that this project showed us what books we

can include in our personal libraries because throughout the semester we learned what books we

can include and use in the classroom. Students can also create projects that are reflecting on

multicultural books we have read in class like a visual literacy project or alternate book reports.
 Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo by Nancy Bo Flood Artistic Response

1. The Rodeo Song -Garry Lee and The Showdown

2. This Cowboy’s Hat- Chris LeDoux

3. Rodeo Trails- Chris LeDoux

4. Rodeo- Garth Brooks

5. I Wanna Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart- Patsy Montana

6. Rodeo Life- Chris LeDoux

7. Cowgirls Don’t Cry- Brooks and Dunn Ft. Reba McEntire

8. Like A Rodeo- Kane Brown

9. Hometown Cowboy- Chris LeDoux

10. Bull Rider- Chris LeDoux

11. Little Red Rodeo- Collin Raye

12. What the Cowgirls Do-Vince Gill

13. Night Rider’s Lament-Suzy Bogguss

14. Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys- Waylon Jennings and Willie
Nelson
15. I Can Still Make Cheyenne- George Strait

16. This Ain’t My First Rodeo- Vern Gosdin

17. Bandy the Rodeo Clown- Moe Bandy

18. Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy- Chris Ledoux with Garth Brooks

19. Rodeo Romeo- Moe Bandy

20. Last Cowboy Song- The Highwaymen

Jazz by Walter Dean Myers Artistic Response
I Love My Purse by Belle Demont Artistic Response
 I love my purse. “Why do you wear a purse?” Because I want to.
Boys like trucks. Boys watch sports. Boys play with bugs.
Boys don't cry. Boys play pranks. Boys like blue.
Girls like princesses. Girls like pink. Girls like hugs.
Girls play with dolls. Girls wear skirts. Girls don’t do kung foo.
I will wear my purse with pride. I love my purse. And it loves me too.
I think these stereotypes are past due.
I Lost my Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakité
 Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani Artistic Response

Dear Mama, December 4, 1947

Things have been very different since we began our new life in our new
home. But we are slowly warming up to our surroundings. It helps that the
strong and amazing smells from Kazi’s cooking fills the air reminds me like
we never left. Amil and I have been having a rough time getting along lately.
I think the stress from moving and almost not surviving really gave him a
hard time adjusting. But he is doing okay…I think. He has been drawing to
express his emotions and releasing any tension that he has. At first, his
pictures were very intense and bold but now they are beginning to seem soft
and relaxed. I think he is beginning to adjust and then things will seem like
normal. But I don’t think anything will be normal again. Will it Mama? I
have been cooking a lot with Kazi and practicing mixing spices and receiving
good advice from him. Cooking with Kazi is a good distraction for me from
our family’s hard time and the scary memories. Because I have been cooking
with him for awhile now, I found out that I enjoy cooking and maybe this is
something I can pursue. I wonder what Papa would say…do you think he will
let me do it? I might just have to find out. I am getting tired now, I can’t keep
my eyes open any longer. I will write to you again tomorrow.

Love,
Nisha
Truce by Jim Murphy Artistic Response
 The Firefly Letters by Margarita Engle Artistic Response

CECILIA

I dream of a world
A world where I can step outside
A world of freedom
I know this world is just a dream
A hope

I want to see the world

I long for adventure and endless memories
A glimpse of what it is like to be free
What does the future hold?
When will I see freedom?
Will that day ever come?

I hear speak of a visitor

Will they be like me
Lost and seeking adventure

My past is dark
I dream of home
My mom
A place I know
But here I am
A slave girl
A lonely slave with a dream
With a dream
A hope
 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin Artistic Response

Main character
Inspired by her father’s Stories
Nothing else to occupy them

Leaves to find family’s fortune

Introduced to new people and
challenges along the way

Doesn’t fly because unable

Rescued by Minli
Allies Doesn’t fly because unable
Giant but gentle creature Rescued by Minli
Originally born from a painting Allies
New friend of Mine's Giant but gentle creature
Originally born from a painting
New friend of Minli’s
 Resources

● (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?

rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS824US824&tbm=isch&q=where+the+mountain+meets+the+moon+
illustrations&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSsq6wiqLmAhUCHTQIHQ_yCzsQrNwCCDgoAA
&biw=1422&bih=642&dpr=1.35#imgrc=m4qbyxoXjBKXRM:
● www.Youtube.com

Books Cited

DeMont, B. (2017). I Love My Purse. Illus. by S. Wimmer. Toronto, ON: Annick Press.

Diakité, P., & Diakité, Baba Wagué (2006). I Lost My Tooth in Africa (1st ed.). New York:
Scholastic Press.

Engle, M. (2010). The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba (1st ed.). New York:
Henry Holt and Co.

Flood, B., & Sonnenmair, Jan. (2013). Cowboy up!: Ride the Navajo Rodeo (First Edition.).
Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, an imprint of Highlights.

Hiranandani, V. (2018). The Night Diary. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Lin, G., & Paul Cartwright Collection. (2009). Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (First
edition.). New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Murphy, Jim. (2009). Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting. New York:
Scholastic.

Myers, W. D., Myers, Christopher, & Paul Cartwright Collection. (2006). Jazz (1st ed.). New
York: Holiday House.