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NBGS Project

Amaia Clift
4-14-20
For Teaching & Learning 307, course taught by Dr. Barbara A. Ward
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As readers, we often try and identify with the characters in the story. We feel that we are

as brave as the knight riding on his horse, or as quirky as the girl who knocked over the books on

her desk in another story. We try and relate to those characters. Many times, we even imagine

ourselves looking like the character does. But there are times when we don’t look like the

character on the cover or described in the book at all. The Notable Books for a Global Society is

a society that promotes multicultural books for teachers, children, or students and provides a list

of many different diverse books. From race to religion, those topics will be covered on this list.

Multicultural representation is shining in children’s literature due to a desire for more diverse

representation. In this essay I will be discussing the need for multicultural literature, what that is,

and about the 8 books I read for this project, their strengths/weaknesses, and which book I would

advocate for as well as 2 honor books.

The purpose of this assignment is to discuss the importance of multicultural literature,

what is it is, and compare the books we have chosen’s criteria with the Notable Books for a

Global Society. There are so many wonderful cultures in this world and they are not all

represented in literature. A lot of books have the same plot, with the same looking characters,

and settings. Not everyone can perfectly connect with those stories. This project is to learn about

different cultures and backgrounds presented in children’s literature. In our future classrooms,

we will have students from all over and will have different cultures, so it is important to learn

about different cultures and explore what we might not or. Before this project, I didn’t know how

many multicultural books what they were out there, or even were about. Thanks to this project, I

was able to learn about what it’s like to be an immigrant, to move to another state, different

religions, and so much more. This project’s purpose is to allow us to learn and explore diverse
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settings and people, maybe read stories that are outside of our comfort zone and learn maybe our

world doesn’t have to feel so divided and we can learn we have many similarities inside.

The steps that I used in completing this assignment is first read our syllabus to understand

the exact steps for this assignment. I then read how I did not need to stick to one particular year

for the NBGS lists and then went the NBGS lists on their site and went through the years ranging

from 2006-2020. After reading the bios of the books and looking for 4-chapter books and 4

picture books, I found 8 books that I was interested in and wrote them in categories to keep track

(picture books and chapter books). The chapter books that I chose are first, ‘Walking With Miss

Millie’, written by Tamara Bundy, and published in 2017. Then ‘Inside Out & Back Again’,

written by Thanhha Li, and published in 2011. Then ‘Echo’ by Pam Munoz Ryan, published in

2015. And ‘A Long Pitch Home’ by Natalie Dias Lorenzi, published in 2018. The picture books

that I chose are first ‘Junas Jar’, written by Jane Bahk and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino,

published in 2015. The next book I chose is ‘I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark’,

written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, published in 2016. Then, ‘Stone

Angel’, written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Katie May Green, published in 2015. And

finally, ‘Her Right Foot’, written by Dave Eggers and art by Shawn Harris, published in 2017. I

would fist look, admittedly, at the covers/title then the bios and see if they were a picture or

chapter book to assure I chose the correct books for the assignment. I chose books that intrigued

my interest and didn’t seem too heartbreaking to read. I would read all day and before bed and

when I would finish, I would write down my idea for my artistic response. Now my next step is

to complete the essay portion of the project.

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My own definition for multicultural/global literature is a type of literature that is diverse

in the characters, the characters backgrounds/religions/ethnicity and are books that have research

behind the culture, information about that culture, and represent that information in picture book,

or chapter book form. I arrived at this destination after reading each of the books that I read for

this assignment as well as reading chapter 6 of ‘Children’s Literature Briefly’, seventh edition,

by Young, Bryan, Tunnel, and Jacobs. The book defines ‘Multicultural Literature’ as “Books

that promote a global outlook as well as an understanding that members of the human family

have more similarities than differences.” (p. 77) This is what I was thinking when reading the

books as well. I noticed how each told how it is ok to be scared to live somewhere new, that we

all have hardships, but our friends and family will always be there for us. Multicultural literature

can give you a new insight into a life of another culture or person and understand ways other

people live or think or act and live through their eyes. Before reading these books, I would’ve

said different cultures/raced, I did not even think of religions, or even sports for that matter.

Thanks to these books, I can see how many components there really are to multicultural literature

such as cultural authenticity (the textbook states this as well), and details such as artwork or

language are important for those who do not know that language or need a visual aid.

The 8 multicultural titles that I read for this project are:

 Lorenzi, N. D. (2018). A long pitch home. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

 Bundy, T. (2018). Walking With Miss Millie. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam
Inc.
 Lai, T. (2011). Inside out & back again. New-York: HarperCollins.
 Ryan Pam Muñoz, & Mirtalipova, D. (2015). Echo: a novel. New York, NY:
Scholastic Inc.
 Eggers, D., & Harris, S. (2017). Her right foot. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle
Books.
 Yolen, J., & Green, K. M. (2015). Stone angel. NY, NY: Penguin Group USA.
 Bahk, J., & Hoshino, F. (2015). Junas jar. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc.
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 Levy, D., & Baddeley, E. (2016). I dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her mark.
New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Now I will give a brief critique of each of the 8 titles that I selected for this project,

beginning with ‘A Long Pitch Home’ by Natalie Dias Lorenzi. The summary of this book is a 10-

year old boy named Bilal must immigrate to the state of Virginia in the United States along with

his 2 younger siblings and mother to live with Bilal’s uncle and leave his father in Pakistan. The

dad is in potential legal trouble and is trying to join his family when he can. Bilal now has to

adjust to life in America, practicing his English, making new friends, and learning baseball since

there in no cricket for him to play anymore, and hoping his father will come to the U.S. soon.

The strengths of this book are that it is very easy to read and has wonderful character growth.

Bilal starts out in the book complaining about moving to the U.S. and missing his best friend and

being without Baba for an extended period of time. Bilal doesn’t even want to sit with other kids

or celebrate his birthday at first and is said about not being able to play cricket and how he has to

take ESL classes and doesn’t get baseball at first and is embarrassed to sit or play ball with

Jordan, the coaches niece on the team since the guys don’t like her. As the book continues, Bilal

begins to appreciate his ESL classes the reader can see he begins to ask less questions of the

complicated English language, and is proud of his progress, he appreciates his new home and

school, learns to like baseball and show he is a good pitcher and can be on the Cardinals team,

and truly befriends Jordan. The NBGS criteria for multicultural books are Part I (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-
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depth treatment of cultural issues’. ‘Include characters within a cultural group or between two or

more cultural groups who interact substantively and authentically and include members of a

“minority” group for a purpose other than filling a “quota.”’. As well as Part II

(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

book ‘A Long Pitch Home’ meets the strengths of the NBGS by 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 and meet generally-accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are

written’; and ‘have an appealing format and be of enduring quality’. This book portrays cultural

accuracy/authenticity through intellectual abilities and problem-solving capabilities. The section

that really showcases this section is when Bilal and Ammi are taking their ESL test at the school

and the teacher Mrs. Wilson hands him a story, gives him a little info about it, and asks Bilal

what he think will happen. The book says “I look at the first sentence, and I don’t even know

how to say the first word. I read the whole first sentence in my head and realize the first word is

the dog’s name. I have never heard this name, and I am not sure how to say it.” (p. 58) This

relates because a new immigrant with only a few years of English skills might not know what

some names are that are common for dogs in the U.S. or will be shy to answer like Bilal. There

are cultural details such as what cricket is, praying and touching one’s forehead to the mat,

clothing, Urdu language, and food. This book is also strong in the fact it honors and celebrates

diversity and common bonds in humanity in the fact is many characters are respectful to Bilal
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and his Muslim culture and the writing makes it seem praised and welcomed and Jordan, who’s

dad is fighting in Afghanistan, and Bilal’s dad in Pakistan, both miss their fathers and shows not

every family is perfect or happy all the time. This book also is strong by being appealing in its

format as the chapters and light and easy to read and chalked full of information and allows one

to love who Bilal is and generally-accepted as it is a chapter book. A weakness of this book is

that it doesn’t really provide in-depth treatment of cultural issues. There is some information on

why Pakistan is its own country and doesn’t really show anyone being harsh to Bilal being from

Pakistan or how he speaks English. Also, this book doesn’t exactly describe many physical

characteristics of the characters. I can somewhat picture a few characters in my mind such as

Jordan’s light hair, but there aren’t too many descriptions.

The next book is entitle ‘Echo: a novel’, written by Pam Munoz Ryan. The summary of

this book is and boy names Otto is playing hide-and- seek with his friend Mathilde in the woods.

When Otto gets lost, he meets 3 girls, who turn out to be the princesses from his book, trapped in

the forest. Their dad, a king, wanted a son, so he gave a daughter after each was born, to the

midwife to “dispose” of the child, but the midwife gives them each to her sister, a witch, who

names them Eins, Zwei, and Drei, meaning one, two, and three. The story in incomplete so the

girls don’t know their fate and give the boy a harmonica, in which each princess and Otto blows

into. But a spell keeps them there. He continues to hear this music and is the messenger of the

harmonica. The harmonica is then passed around much later in 3 different places. The first with a

boy in Germany working in a harmonica factory, living in the time of Hitler, and wants to be a

conductor but is bullied because of the birthmark on his face. The harmonica is then shipped to

America where a boy named Mike Flannery finds it before his almost adoption with his brother

and finds it in a music store in Pennsylvania. The same one with an ‘M’ engraved on it. Mike
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wants to be involved in music/ a band (by playing harmonica). Then the harmonica ends up in

the hands of Ivy in Southern, California. Ivy is Hispanic and is supposed to have a solo

performance after Miss Delgado chooses her to perform but learns she now has to go to a new

school and make new friends since they are moving. The new employers son arrives after

coming home from war (still set in WW2), and Ivy gives him the harmonica which saves his life.

When it did, the spell was broken and the sisters were free. Later, the 3 children all get what they

wanted. To be a conductor, a pianist, and flute player and all perform the same night in Carnegie

Hall. The strengths of this novel is how diverse the characters are. The book centers around 3

main characters who all come from different backgrounds and have different stories yet all

dream of being famous and involved in music. The strengths of this book are portrayal of

cultural accuracy and authenticity of characters in terms of social and economic status, invite

reflection, critical analysis, and response and demonstrate unique language or style. The cultural

accuracy described in this novel are amazing. From those who supported and protested Hitler’s

beliefs and how even in Germany, if someone had an imperfection, they were not deemed as a

true German. The book mentions fear of Hitler by “ ‘For opposing Hitler’s politics? He’d be

sent to Dachau. It’s full of opponents of Hitler. They call it a ‘work and reeducation camp’. But

it’s a hard-labor prison.’ “ (p. 66) So when the boss of the harmonica factory is forced to join

the Nazi party, or choose the other alternative, you understand the fear. One can also see what

foster care is like and the dream of being adopted and what being in a Hispanic household can be

like. You also see economic status of each character and how no matter their race, none had a ton

of money with them. And also allows the reader to reflect on the characters dreams and how like

the sisters, they are intertwined with each other and a selfless act and the harmonica set the

sisters free and everyone’s dreams came true and one can think how is all of that possible. The
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weaknesses of this book, to me, is how long it is for a child to read. This book took me quite

some time to read, and I can only imagine a student reading this and possibly being

overwhelmed. For weaknesses relating to the NBGS, leadership and cooperative dimensions

were a flaw as not many characters had big actions or growth and the princesses were barely

mentioned. Providing in-depth treatment of cultural issues was there but it could’ve been

stronger and was more shown in Ivy’s case or even Friedrich’s. Also, having an appealing format

and be of enduring quality wasn’t as strongly shown as the book is massive and could’ve been

divided differently and maybe could’ve been chopped into smaller stories or books so one can

grow and learn more with the characters.

The next book I will discuss is ‘Inside out & Back Again’ by Thanhha Lai. The summary

of this book is a young girl named Ha lives in Vietnam’s capital Saigon during the Vietnam War.

Ha loves her papaya tree and fresh papaya is her favorite food. The story begins in 1975 during

Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, and everyone must be smiling and only a boy is supposed

to rise and bless the house first but Ha does it before anyone finds out, regardless of potential bad

luck. Their father, who was in the Navy, has been missing for several years but the family has

hopes he’ll return. When the capital is taken over, her, her mother, and brothers must leave

Vietnam, the papaya tree, and potentially their father, and aboard the navy ship with their uncle

Son, a friend of their fathers, and head towards a better life in the U.S. Specifically Alabama.

Once they arrive, they learn being in America at this time is extremely difficult and so is learning

English and attempting to make friends. Ha is very bullied at school and is chased home

constantly and teased. All she wants is her home, father, and papaya tree. As the year progresses,

Ha learns more English thanks to Miss Washington and live with a host family for a bit before he

gives them their own house, and how to defend herself. Once the next Tet arrives, they learn
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more of what happened to their father and their plans for their future. The strengths of this book

are how it is in novel-in verse form, which according to the textbook, is “Known as verse novels,

these books ‘cross boundaries’ because they are written in poetry but generally classifies as

another genre.” (p. 127) This books appears to look like a poem or even diary entry but is called

a verse novel. This makes the book light and easy to read and really see life through the main

characters eyes. The strengths that relates to the NBGS are portrayal of cultural accuracy and

authenticity of characters in terms of (a) physical characteristics, (b) intellectual abilities and

problem solving capabilities because Ha describes her olive skin and black hair and describes

one boy as pink and others with freckles so we can imagine what Ha looks like as well as her

classmates and the intellectual abilities are shown as Ha navigates English and hearing a word

and think it means one thing but it means another or thinks the host is a cowboy because of his

hat and how she figures this out throughout the book This book honors and celebrates diversity

as well because Ha learns it’s ok to have her culture and people will try and understand it, even if

they don’t. Also, the book shows common bonds in humanity as Ha’s friends aren’t favored

either and that eventually people will be nicer and understanding, and sometimes you have to do

that for others as well as providing in-depth treatment of cultural issues such as racism and is a

great example of Xenophobia, which the textbook describes as “Xenophobia, the mistrust or

fear of people who are strangers or foreigners, is in part responsible for our worldwide inability

to live together in peace….Literature can be one of the most powerful tools for combating the

ignorance that breeds xenophobic behavior” (p. 79). Since Ha is an outsider from another

country, many were fearing her and treated her poorly because they didn’t know how else to act

and the pink boy probably wanted to act inferior to her. This book showcases in times of

adversity, some will act at their cruelest and explains how Ha gave that hate right back in the
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book calling Pink Boy mean names such as “My heart lifting, I run and shout, Bully! Coward!

Pink Snot Face! Words I hear from them on the playground” (p. 219) That’s what a big part of

multicultural literature is about, showcasing people and how many distrust foreign things/people.

Another strength is Invite reflection, critical analysis, and response as there are questions and

answers in the back of the book. The weaknesses of this book are including characters within a

cultural group or between two or more cultural groups who interact substantively and

authentically. The only big culture groups discussed are Vietnamese and White. There isn’t

much discussion for any other groups.

The next book is ‘Walking With Miss Millie’ written by Tamara Bundy. The summary of

this book is a girl named Alice moves from Columbus, Ohio to Rainbow, Georgia where her

parents grew up. They move because Alice’s grandma is beginning to lose her memory more and

more each day so the mom, Alice, and her deaf brother Eddie, movie to Georgia to live with her

grandma. Alice has continuous hope they are just there for the summer and that her daddy will

return. Alice discovers a box in the shed of her father’s old poems to her mom and she hopes if

she saves them, he might come back, they can be a family again. When Alice overhears a phone

conversation involving gossiping neighbors, Alice must go over to Miss Millie’s and apologize.

To make up for it, Alice must walk her dog Clarence each day, except Clarence won’t walk

without Miss Millie, so the three walk together every day. Alice hears Miss Millie’s stories about

her life and segregation, and maybe her and Miss Millie are not so different at all. Each walk

Miss Millie gives her a memento of her life and learns there are nice people out there. The

strengths of this book are honoring and celebrating diversity as well as common bonds in

humanity. The book celebrates different cultures coming together and how though Miss Millie is
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African-American and Alice is white, they don’t mind any differences they might have and like

learning about each other. Also with Eddie being deaf, which is its own group/category of

diversity. Not many books tend to describe ASL or being deaf and since this book is set in 1968,

being deaf wasn’t very talked about or celebrated. Many people thought Eddie was dumb

because he couldn’t hear. A quote that showcase this from the book is “I shook my head. ‘No,

you say “good” like this. Put your right hand up to your mouth. Now movie straight down to

meet your left hand’… Pam tried it as Eddie nodded his head and clapped for her.” (p. 127) Pam

was excited to know a sign and was willing to communicate. That shows cultural

difference/celebration as Pam could hear. This book also provides in-depth treatment of cultural

issues, such as people being racists and prejudice towards others, such as the McHale brothers

and their father. The book also include characters within a cultural group or between two or more

cultural groups who interact substantively and authentically as Alice and Miss Millie come from

very different backgrounds (white girl in Ohio and an elderly African-American who has

experienced segregation in the South) and they converse every day. A weakness of this book that

relates to the NBGS is the book, is it doesn’t do the best job of inviting reflection, critical

analysis, and responses because there are no big questions left unanswered or to think of as we

know the fathers doesn’t want to come back and Mr. McHale is violent and mean. Being rich in

cultural details is also a little flawed in this book as we don’t know many of the cultural

backgrounds except about Miss Millie’s brother and racism towards her.

‘Juna’s’ Jar by Jane Bank and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino is the next book I will

discuss. The summary of this book is after Juna and her family finish their Kimchi, sometimes

Juna gets to keep the jar and her and her best friend Hector go on adventures and put things in

the jar. Hector lived with his grandma until one day his parents come and they move away,
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leaving Juna very sad. So her brother tries to cheer her up by getting a fish for the jar and Juna

dreams she is swimming with the fish but asks where Hector is. And then the fish gets too big for

the jar. Juna’s brother Minho suggests planting a bean in the jar and she dreams she is climbing

it’s vines in the rainforest and looking for hector. The plant gets too big for the jar. This pattern

then continues. When she places a cricket in the jar, it flies her to Hector and she sees him and he

has a Kimchi jar next to him and happy and Juna feels better. Then at the park she meets a friend

and the girl suggests then they put the inchworm in the jar. The strengths of this is that it’s light-

hearted and shows missing a friend can be very sad and displays Korean culture through art and

language. The strengths that relate to the NBGS are demonstrating unique language or style as

there are a few Korean words in the text such as Kimchi and ‘Hola’ which is Spanish for ‘Hello’

and are showcased in text formatting. The book also has an appealing format and enduring

qualities, because the colors are soft and made from watercolor and the text is a sentence or two

on each page with the picture and the expressions are very shown in the book as well as being

rich in cultural details such as showing Hispanic language and foods Korean culture includes.

Some weaknesses of the book are inviting reflection, critical analysis, and response as the only

big question is where were Hectors parents and why did he live with his Abuelita. The book also

didn’t provide in-depth treatment of cultural issues as there seemed to be no big cultural issues or

hardships.

‘I Dissent, Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark’ by Debbi Levy and illustrated by

Elizabeth Baddelley is the next book I will discuss. The summary of this book it is about Ruth

Bader Ginsberg’s whole life and starts when she was a young girl in 1940’s Brooklyn, New York

and how Brooklyn was so diverse itself but women were supposed to just find husbands and her

and her mom didn’t agree with that so her mom took her to the library to read and Ruth learned
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about amazing, independent women. One day her and her family were driving past a hotel in

Pennsylvania and the sign said, ‘No Dogs or Jews Allowed!’ and that hurt Ruth greatly as she

was Jewish. Prejudice against Jewish folk were prominent back then. The book describes how

Ruth excelled in many subject in school but differed as she was left-handed and that was

frowned upon as well as wanting to take shop but couldn’t since she was a girl. Her mother

passed away right before she graduated High School and she then went to Cornell University

where she met her husband who always supported her dreams and they both went to law school,

and women were not supposed to be lawyers back then but Ruth dissented and eventually was

such a high in-demand lawyer she became a professor and then the first Jewish women to be on

the Supreme court and is still fighting for equal rights today. The strengths of this book are of

how informational it is with so few pages and how it shows prejudice is so many platforms,

ranging from equal rights, women, being Jewish, and so much more. The strengths that connect

to the NBGS are providing in-depth treatment of cultural issues such as being Jewish and not

being welcomed into stores, hotels, and the same went for Mexicans or colored-people the book

says, mentioning how harsh prejudice was back then. This book also meets generally-accepted

criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written; because, as the textbook states “Our

diverse population includes a variety of culture groups that often cross color lines, such as

religious groups.” (p. 78) This is shown by Jews being judged harshly, colored-people, women,

and other groups being treated unfairly as well as having an appealing format and be of enduring

quality as we start off with a young Ruth wanting to defy the odds of women being what they

want and then rising to be on the Supreme Court. The negatives of this book are there aren’t a lot

of physical characteristics that are described. They might be somewhat shown in drawings but

not much. This book also doesn’t include many characters within a cultural group or between
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two or more cultural groups who interact substantively and authentically as it mostly just focuses

on Ruth.

The next book is ‘Stone Angel’ by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Katie May Green. This

book centers around a young girl and her brother Aaron who live in Paris during World War 2.

They love to run and get brioche and croissant as the gargoyles and stone angels look down on

them. The one day the Nazi’s come to Paris. The girl and her family are Jewish and must flee.

They hide in the words for a long-time band in caves with other Jews before trekking the

mountains in Spain to get to a boat to live in England with their cousin Jacob. There the family

grows up and when the war is over, they can return to Paris and get brioche and croissant again.

The strengths of this book are leadership and cooperative dimensions as it shows the families

decision for safety and flee Paris and decide where to go and how to get/make food and in the

cave they do not need to wear the stars the Nazi’s made them wear anymore. The book meets

generally-accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written as the book focuses

on a Jewish family and describes how Nazi’s took over Paris and made them wear the Star of

David to show they were Jewish. The book also has an appealing format and be of enduring

quality as you see how tight the community of runaways are and the mixed-media design adds a

soft appearance to such a harsh reality. The negatives of this book that relate to the NBGS are

inviting reflection, critical analysis, and response as we don’t learn why the Nazi’s are prejudiced

against the Jews, and what exactly them taking over Paris means. The book also doesn’t

necessarily honor and celebrate diversity as well as common bonds in humanity as we mostly

just know the family is Jewish but don’t learn about that culture and mostly shows people’s fear

to welcome the Jews into their stores, except for cousin Jacob who lets them live in his house.
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The last book is ‘Her Right Foot’ by Dave Eggers and art by Shawn Harris. The

summary of this book is about the Statue of Liberty and how it was a gift from the French to the

U.S. to celebrate its 100th birthday and Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye came up with the idea

and convinced Frenchman Frederic Auguste Bartholdi to design the statue. The statue was built

in pieces and made of copper as thick as 2 pennies and was first built in Paris, then a year later,

taken apart and shipped to New York on an Island, once known as Bedloe’s Island. The book

describes how the statue turned green and that’s because copper, if it oxidizes, will become

green. The book also tells of how Lady Liberty’s scribe says July 4th, 1776, when the U.S. won

the revolution and became a free country, the 7 spikes on her crown represent the 7 seas, and

most importantly, her right foot is stepping forward. The book ponders why but says how the

chains in her foot are broken, meaning she is free, and, as the book quotes, “If the Statue of

Liberty is a symbol of freedom, if the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to

the United States, then how can she stand still?” (p. 79) She is stepping towards freedom and

welcoming those entering and immigrating into our country and how the U.S. has welcomed

many, many immigrants and continues to. The strengths of this book, that are connected to the

NBGS are it honors and celebrates diversity as well as common bonds in humanity by showing

Lady Liberty was an immigrant and welcomes all from around the world such as Scotland and

continues to be a symbol of home for all wanting to move here. The book includes members of a

“minority” group for a purpose other than filling a “quota.” Such as visuals of different races

and cultures and describing how many of specific groups the U.S. has welcomed and it even

demonstrates unique language or style by saying how it is a factual book and is straight to the

point on the facts.

Now I will display my artistic responses for each book.

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First is my artistic response for ‘A Long Pitch Home’. Here I put Bilal’s face on a

baseball including his black eye, and the ball is flying towards what is going to happen to Bilal

such as ESL classes, keeping his 1st language of Urdu and missing home and appreciating his

new home

Next is my collage for ‘Echo, a novel’. I included the maps of Germany, Pennsylvania,

and California, as the main characters are from there, as well as the witch who casts the spell,

and the orchestra as it represents each of the characters musical dreams. The 3 princesses

represent the 3 princesses as well as the 3 characters as they are connected. I also included the

theatre the characters later play at together, and all of the photos center around the harmonica

which is what ties everything together.

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The next artistic response is for ‘Stone Angel’ and I drew a photo of an angel in the sky kneeling

down and hearing the prayer of the little girl to protect her and her family for safety and to rid of

Jewish prejudice.
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The next artistic response is for ‘A Walk With Miss Millie’ and I created my own poem that

represented how much Alice and Miss Millie enjoyed their walks together and how poetry is

mentioned throughout the book.

The next artistic response if for ‘Inside Out & Back Again’ and I made my own journal

response like how the book uses novel in verse and it is from the point of my Amaxti, Basque for

grandmother, and her saying how she’s leaving Spain and moving to Tennessee with my grandpa

who’s from there.

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The next response is for ‘Juna’s Jar’ and I made my own jar. I decorated it for WSU

Senior year memories and plan to capture memories made with friends inside the jar like how

Juna did with Hector.

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The next artistic response id for ‘I Dissent’ and I drew a gavel, as Ruth becomes an

infamous judge, and the words “I dissent” as she loves to fight for what’s right as she pounds the

gavel on a wooden circle that says equality, meaning she wants equal rights and disagrees with

the case.

The last artistic response is for ‘Her Right Foot’ and I drew the Statue of Liberty as she

stands in front of New York and the new hope and life that welcomes new immigrants to our

country and a father and daughter look up at the statue, excited for their new life.
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One multicultural book that I will consider using in my classroom is ‘A Long Pitch

Home’ by Natalie Dias Lorenzi. I want to use this in my future classroom because I think this

book does an excellent job discussing adversity, cultural differences, using multiple languages,

and a heart-warming story. This story wowed me as I was reading it. I fell in love with Bilal’s

character and felt how much he truly wanted to be Jordan’s friend but Akash and friends teased

him because they didn’t believe it was fair Jordan was a girl and the coach’s niece and on the

team and MVP. Bilal struggles with English at first, and especially mad when his sister does

better on their ESL test than he does as well as being confused at the new words and sometime

the words mean something completely different than what he thought. We grow with Bilal

during his first year living in Virginia. It’s a big cultural jump for Bilal as he must learn to play

baseball and not cricket, which he was super good at back in Pakistan. He learns punching

someone’s shoulder is a sign of friendship and thumbs up in the U.S. means something very

different than back home. He also has to adjust to life without his dad. This book showcases

many different cultural themes and prejudices such as Bilal being new in school and embarrassed

to talk in class and him never having even held a baseball and learning a new sport and sad

because he doesn’t know how to hit a baseball, he doesn’t make the Cardinals team at first. This

shows that yes, we might be new somewhere and be unsure of the culture, but we must persist

and try and eventually we will learn and get better at what we want to achieve. There’s also

prejudice between Muslims and Whites as Bilal’s older cousin Jalaal wants to date this girl

Olivia but Jalaal mom doesn’t want him to date yet since he’s 17 and there is hints that it is also

because of their cultural differences. This is a great lesson for kids because in the end, Jalaal gets

to take Olivia to the prom and Olivia and him even get to go off on their own to eat so halal and

it is custom for Muslims not to eat animals that were treated unfairly before they were
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killed/died. That is such a great lesson to describe to students because it shows respecting one

another’s cultures, sometimes there is prejudice when coming to dating/courtship, but people

bend and accept what others want/are. There is prejudice against boys and girls and how the boys

thought there was nepotism with Jordan being on the team and being MVP. She will play softball

later but timing wise since she moved there and she is now on this team, and what we learn about

Jordan is her dad is off fighting in Afghanistan, new in town, and misses him a lot. The boys see

her as a threat so they don’t like her but feel bad about it after they learn about her dad. This is a

great example of we don’t always really know people and should not judge them and really get

to know someone before you make a snap judgement about them. We don’t always know what

people are going through. I would like to teach this book in my future because it handled

diversity and prejudice very well and there should be an inclusion of more multicultural books in

classrooms. I also believe it is important for a child to be able to picture themselves in a book.

For many children around the world, they are unable to see themselves in books. Many

characters tend to be white, or depicted as white, and don’t mention a lot of different religions,

holidays, foods, or dress. You feel more connected to a story is you feel represented. It’s like

you’re living the story too. An article entitled ‘No Longer Invisible, How Diverse Literature

Helps Children Find Themselves in Books, and Why It Matters’ states “ ‘When students don’t

see themselves reflected in their class- room curriculum, it gives them the impression that they

are not valued, that something must be wrong with them’ says Sandra Osorio, assistant

professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University. “ (p. 13) This

quote shows how if one feels that they are not represented in the books they are reading,

especially as children, they don’t feel important. They feel like an outcast and don’t fit with the

curriculum. To have books in the classroom that have a wide range of cultures and topics and
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religions is great for those who do celebrate those holidays or eat certain foods in their culture. It

makes them feel like they are important as well as their culture. A great example from ‘A Long

Pitch Home’ is when Miss Salinas asks what holidays the students celebrate and Bilal celebrates

Quaid-e-Azam day and it is “ ‘It is the birthday of Quaid-e Azam Mohommad Ali Jinah… he

helped make Pakistan when Pakistan left India’ “ (p. 150). The teacher and class had no idea

who that was or that Pakistan was part of India at one point. This shows multiculturalism by

expressing what that holiday is, which is great for those who celebrate it to read and hear about

and will make them excited to see it talked about, as well as for those who do not know what it is

to learn about a Pakistani holiday and learn about Pakistan’s history. That brings me to another

great point on why this books is one I want in my future classroom. The same article also

mentions how some schools are predominantly white, like mine was growing up, and there

weren’t many diverse books out there. A teacher names Crystal Brunelle was mention and how

“She has brought in bilingual books in a variety of languages that aren’t spoken in school, just

to expose students to the idea of bilingualism and to share some of the world’s many cultures ( ‘I

may not have many books in Urdu’ she says, ‘but at least I have one!’))” (p.14) That was an

impressive quote to me. I love how she brought in bilingual books so the students can learn about

them and she brought them in herself. I like that she felt the need to do that students can learn

about other cultures through literature and this way there can be an awareness about multiple

cultures. Having this book in my class can ease the need for color-blindness, which is making

everything perfectly fine between cultures and religions, or not even bring up different cultures

at all, as the textbook states as ‘Results demonstrating students exposed to a color-blind mindset,

as opposed to a value-diversity mind-set were actually less likely to detect over instances of

racial discrimination and to describe in such a manner that would prompt intervention by
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certified teachers.” (p.70) Having multicultural books is proven to bring people’s attention,

especially student’s attention as they are our future leaders, to certain issues that can still happen

today and know what has happened to our past or others so we can treat everyone with kindness.

I adored this book because of how many different topics it brought up and would love it in my

classroom. I think this book might appeal to students because it is a sports-based book, and many

young students are playing or interested in sports. It is bilingual which might fascinate many

kids, or connect with those who speak another language, or that language, and will want to

continue reading that book. It also brings up topics that might hit home for some students such as

being from another country or state and having to move, leaving a parent behind, having a

relative be involved in the military, and cultural differences and awareness of it. I hope to get my

endorsement in ESL one day and reading this book very much connected with me and I think

teaching this to students will open their eyes to the world around us.

I would also like to include 2 other honor books in my classroom library. Those books

would be ‘Walking With Miss Millie’ by Tamara Bundy and ‘Her Right Foot’ by Dave Eggers

and art by Shawn Harris. I would include these books because, for ‘Walking With Miss Millie’ it

shows the racial tension between whites and blacks during the 1960’s, what freedom movements

looked like and meant back in 1906 and how being prejudice with those with disabilities is not

cool and how they are still people and to learn to appreciate those in your life while they are

there. The strengths of this book was how heart-felt and moving it was and you grow with Alice

to appreciate Rainbow and not judge or be mean to others. The weaknesses would be there

should be more information on why the dad hated Rainbow and other cultures possibly included

in the book. I believe this should be on the NBGS list because it really does include characters

within a cultural group or between two or more cultural groups who interact substantively and
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authentically and includes those with disabilities and another language and people wanting to

learn and connect with one another and brings up issues of racism and family hardships. For ‘Her

Right Foot’, I think it a great book that discusses how the Statue of Liberty was built and why.

How the statue is a symbol of freedom for all who want to live here and is an invitation to be

free. It discusses how the statue is stepping towards those who enter this country and walking

towards freedom with them and describes how many cultures have come here, how many people,

and what freedom means. The only weakness is that there should be more pages on what

diversity is and what religions have come here. This book should be on the NBGS Honor list

because it discusses freedom and hinting how not everyone has that. And how we were once not

a free country, but broke those chains, and walked towards freedom. It’s saying we should/are

welcoming to immigrants because our statue was an immigrant herself. This connects to the

criteria because honors and celebrate diversity as well as common bonds in humanity and shows

we were once immigrants and will walk with them towards freedom. Both these books were

amazing and I would love to have these in my future library.

The book ‘A Long Pitch Home’s’ strengths are it’s themes and what issues it brings up. It

brings up more issues than the other 7 books did. It describes racism, discrimination, religion,

food, friendship, adversity, ESL classes, sports, leaving family behind, etc. There are so many

issues wrapped into one book yet it is still so light-hearted and moving and you root for Bilal and

his family in each page and hope for his father to come home. The climax at the end might be its

greatest strength when Bilal throws the pitch, with the ball written on in Urdu, to Omar Khan, a

world-famous cricket player and now Politian, and begging him to help him get his dad to the

U.S., and missing the batter, losing the game. You feel bad for Bilal. He finally know enough

English, respect of his team, pitching the winning game, but can only think of his dad back
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home. This book expresses such unique language as it is a bilingual book and includes words in

Urdu. There are other cultures represented as well such as Indian. The other books so express

different cultures, wars, tales of friendship and triumph over adversity, but to me, they fell flat

compared to this book. This book does admittedly have some weaknesses though, such as it

never describes how exactly to play cricket. It touches on it, but I would’ve liked to have learned

more about it. I also would’ve liked to have more info on the ESL lessons, what they were, and

how they helped Bilal. It would be an extremely useful book in my classroom though because it

brings up all of these topics. Many might not know what an ESL class is. Some might not be

aware their school has those programs. Bringing up topics might bring up conversations of what

a bilingual person is, what that means, and issues of prejudice which some students might not

know what that means or have experienced it. This book meets my criteria for good

multicultural literature because it brings up multiple cultures, not just one. It brings up different

backgrounds, such as immigrants and military families, and ESL. There are different religions

mentioned and how one could respect that culture in a scenario. It met all of my personal

multicultural literature definitions.

The literary elements in this book include plot. Which the plot is about a 10-year-old boy

named Bilal and him, his sister, and mom move to the U.S. without their dad who is behind due

to potential legal trouble. Bilal now lives with his cousin’s family in Virginia, give up cricket to

play baseball, and learn in ESL classrooms and navigate friendships. An example of this is Baba

is talking to Bilal in the 1st chapter when his father comes back after his 3-day disappearance and

says “ ‘Bilal, it is high time we leave Pakistan to live with your Hassan Uncle and Noor Auntie

in America’ America? That’s on the other side of the world.” (p. 4) This indicates the family

will be leaving and mentions how the father will join later, and the family must now get rid of
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what they know and begin a new life. The themes of this book are friendships, family,

perseverance, education, and hope. An example of this would be when Jordan comes to Bilal’s

house to give him back his potentially lucky hat. The book says “She picks up my National’s cap

from the coffee table. ‘This was sitting on the bench when Uncle- er, Coach- Matt and Kyle were

bringing in the equipment. I thought you might need it for tomorrow.’” (p. 71) This is a sign of

befriending someone and being nice and Jordan is wanting to connect with Bilal and be his

friend by giving him his hat. The voice is 1st person as the story is told through Bilal’s point of

view. An example would be the sentence “I wince- partly for Aiden and partly for myself,

because I know I won’t do any better.” (p. 79) There is the words ‘I’ and ‘myself’’ which

indicate the 1st person, meaning Bilal. The characterization of this book is about immigrants and

what that means and how it is not easy moving to a new country and learning that language but

each characters is hopeful, at times pessimistic but mainly optimistic, and having hope

throughout the book. An example would be when Bilal writes notes down for Baba of the things

in the U.S. he has learned that’s different than in Pakistan. Such as during baseball “2. If you get

a hit, do not carry your bat when you run around the bases.” (p. 63) This shows there is hope

and optimistic because Bilal is learning and hoping his dad can see these rules in person. The

writing style is narrative as Bilal tells of what he’s going through and there is no persuasion

really, just describing Bilal and his viewpoints. An example would be “They are saying their

names. That much I know of. I know catcher is a position in baseball. One I will never play.” (p.

37) Here Bilal is doing roll for the team and what the players position is and know he doesn’t

want to be catcher. Which is narrative, describing, from his POV.

In conclusion, these were truly all wonderful books. I learned from this assignment where

the Statue of Liberty was from and who made it. I learned about Pakistani culture. I learned
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about prejudice in different eras such as the 1940’s and ‘60s and what people went through. I

also learned about different backgrounds that were not my own I might have never learned about

if it wasn’t for this assignment and I am so appreciative of that. I learned how to think creatively

and how to think of different artistic interpretations. What I still need to learn is about more

cultures, not just one’s from the books I chose. I would like to learn more about the Civil Rights

movements/segregation and more stories about women who have done incredible things. What I

would change if I did this assignment again is coming up with different artistic responses, not

one’s that are similar and really think and write down more quotes as I read the books. How I can

tie the assignment to coursework for this course and previous courses and understand the

importance of multiculturalism and don’t color blind and be open-minded to all books that we

have read or options listed for this class and appreciate learning new things and know from

previous courses, that I should be open-minded to those assignments as well. Overall, each book

was a good read and I would gladly read these books again.
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Bibliography/ references

. Collier, L. (n.d.). No Longer Invisible, How Diverse Literature Helps Children Find

Themselves in Books and Why It Matters . The Council Chronicle, 13–14. Retrieved from

https://learn.wsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3658519-dt-content-rid-108834777_1/courses/2020-SPRI-

PULLM-TCH_LRN-307-7613-LEC/No%20Longer%20Invisible--How%20Diverse

%20Literature%20Helps%20Children%20Find%20Themselves%20in%20Books%2C%20and

%20Why%20It%20Matters.pdf

. Young, T. A., Bryan, G., Jacobs, J. S., & Tunnell, M. O. (2020). Childrens literature,

briefly(7th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

. Lorenzi, N. D. (2018). A long pitch home. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

. Bundy, T. (2018). Walking With Miss Millie. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Inc.

. Lai, T. (2011). Inside out & back again. New-York: HarperCollins.

. Ryan Pam Muñoz, & Mirtalipova, D. (2015). Echo: a novel. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

. Eggers, D., & Harris, S. (2017). Her right foot. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

. Yolen, J., & Green, K. M. (2015). Stone angel. NY, NY: Penguin Group USA.

. Bahk, J., & Hoshino, F. (2015). Junas jar. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc.

. Levy, D., & Baddeley, E. (2016). I dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg made her mark. New York:

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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