Winter 2022      Volume 51, Number 1

Authors, Books, and Beyond: Taking a (Critical) Peek at Your Classroom Library
By Christie Angleton

Document: Column  

Introductory Paragraph:  The concept of windows and mirrors in our classroom libraries is not new. Children’s literature scholar Rudine Sims Bishop coined the term in 1990, reminding teachers and other caring adults that children need books that offer mirrors for their own lives and windows into the lives of others. Taking up windows and mirrors as a pedagogical framework for approaching the literature in your classroom library requires reading critically, considering authorship, identifying potential harm, and more. But once you have decided to look closely and critically at the books you share with young children, how do you get started? And how do you know what counts as a mirror or a window?  As I tell my students, there are lots of right ways. The most important thing is figuring out what works for you.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.51.1.2022.81

Page Numbers:   81-84