Many Books, Many Stories

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

ISBN 978-1-4331-9913-4 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4331-9914-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4331-9915-8 (ebook pdf)

ISBN 978-1-4331-9916-5 (epub)

DOI 10.3726/b20112

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About the authors

Kathleen Olmstead, Ed.D., is Assistant Professor of Literacy at SUNY Brockport where she teaches courses in elementary literacy education. Kathleen was a longtime classroom teacher and reading specialist. She earned her Ed.D. at Hofstra University.

Serena Troiani, Ph.D., is an elementary classroom teacher in Port Washington, New York, and Adjunct Assistant Professor and Practicum Coordinator at Queens College, CUNY where she teaches courses in elementary literacy education. She earned her Ph.D. in literacy studies from Hofstra University.

About the book

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

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page.In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Foreword

Bobbie Kabuto

Preface