Esperanza Rising- Diversity of all kinds

I read the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan both as a child and as an adult. Both times the book was captivating and appealing. In the novel, 10-year-old Esperanza is faced with many challenges and tragedies to overcome, one of which is moving from a privileged life in Mexico to an immigrant work camp in California. Esperanza goes from beautiful dresses and dolls to learning how to sweep and care for herself for the first time.

This book deals with race, social class, death, age, health, and much more. As the protagonist faces these difficulties, the reader is pulled into her story and roots for the younger girl's family.

This is a great novel for 3rd-5th graders to learn about various diverse topics. To find out more, watch the book trailer below.

Why is multicultural Literature important to you?

It is important to me because these books can make minority children feel recognized and inspired. It gives them a chance to see themselves in characters and authors and knows that they can be successful. Multicultural literature can also help my students with limited life experience view cultures unlike their own and open the opportunity for discussion on acceptance.

Below is a link to an article on Scholastic that shares 14 individuals' personal reasons on why diverse books are important to them. It speaks to how our differences give each of us a different point of view and how multicultural literature can help our children grow.

Click here to find inspiring reasons to include multicultural literature as part of your reading.

What is Diversity?

Every person's definition of diversity is going to be different based on their life experiences. I define diversity as each persons' differences. These differences can include but are not limited to, their race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, cultural heritage, family makeup, and so much more.

These traits make each person's world view and experience in life a little bit different. We each carry our own perspectives and viewpoints based on who we are. In order to empathize with others' viewpoints, we must first hear what their experiences are like. We must be knowledgable on the oppression and prejudice that people of color or the LGBTQ+ community face. When we are more knowledgable, we are more accepting.

One way to become more knowledgable is through literature. As adults, we can choose to search for literature on diverse people, but for children, their access to finding diverse literature is more difficult because they can only access what is provided for them. As an educator, I believe that we must educate the whole child and part of that is to encourage the acceptance of other cultures. One way to do this is by introducing them to cultures through books. Reading high quality, diverse literature and having the options of these types of books in a library will encourage students to see life through someone else's eyes. It can encourage empathy and understanding. Including books with minority characters, like a book about a child with two moms or a book about a Muslim boy in America can make the children who live similar lives feel included in an oftentimes white-washed subject.

Reading and providing diverse children's literature can create a generation of caring individuals.

To find out more about the importance of diverse literature, you can read this article from Newsweek.