Tag Archives: Emotion

Kaya’s Heart Song

Posted on November 28, 2018 by | Comments Off on Kaya’s Heart Song

Author(s), Illustrator/Photographer: Diwan Tharan Sanders & Nerina Canzi.

Publisher and Year/Number of pages: Lantana Publishing, 2018, 30 Pages.

Genre: Fiction, Picture Book.

Descriptive Annotation: The cover features a drawing of a Malaysian girl (our protagonist, a kid named Kaya) with her eyes clamped shut in the middle of beautiful Malaysian flowers, colored both purple and a light pink in her hair and in the garden itself. The title appears over these images of bliss, suggesting that Kaya is humming her heart song as she convalesces amongst nature’s beautiful patchwork quilt of colors. Also included is a large bulb of some sort above her head, emitting what can only be some sort of lovely flower scent into the atmosphere, shown in the same type of beautiful colors. This is a combination of both garden imagery used by mankind for millennia, and the use of flowers in the hair can be seen for the entirety of the picture book.

Kaya’s Heart Song is the heartwarming story of a girl named Kaya and her mother who lives in the jungles of Malaysia in a cozy little village. Her mama is able to hear a heart song from deep within, but Kaya simply cannot yet. She is told not to fret by her mama, though, as she cheerfully reminds her that “When the time is right, you’ll hear it. Learn to quiet your mind so the music can be heard” (Sanders, p. 2-4). As the story goes on, it is evident that while the jungle may be vast, it is still full of friendly faces for Kaya. She runs into somebody from the village named Pak after being guided to him by a butterfly, and he is guarding a gate to something beyond her wildest dreams-an elephant carousel: “It’s the most beautiful carousel Kaya has ever seen. But out here in the jungle, it looks unused, unloved and forgotten” (Sanders, p. 11).  The carousel is covered in vines, and as she and Pak go about clearing them, the carousel comes to life as it hums along, and a soft beat starts to sound in Kaya’s ear-kind of like a heart song. Soon, all of the carousels have come alive, and the elephants unmoor themselves from the poles and start to move throughout the jungle, giving everybody free elephant rides. The music was inside Kaya all along, and it brought a long-dormant attraction to life and made everybody happy, from Kaya to Pak to the entire village that enjoyed the rides. The lesson of self-care in the book-that taking care of yourself and finding peace will help do the same for others-would certainly be a useful lesson for students reading this picture book in the primary school classroom. No real background knowledge needed here-just an open mind.

Classroom Application: In the book Kaya’s Heart Song, the characters are Malaysian, a far-off country that many students will probably not know about, which would be ideal for instructing students from less racially or ethnically diverse communities. Different people find true happiness and self-love in different ways, and being able to share that love is a priority to make our world more harmonious. The last line of the book sums it up nicely: “And thank you, Pak, for helping me find my heart song. I promise to share it for all to hear” (Sanders, p. 27).  Sharing your happiness with others demonstrates how people should simply be authentic in how they interact with each other as well, as authenticity is key in forming long-term relationships. In short, we need more empathy and recognition of where people are in life’s journey when we interact with them, and this book offers a way to start the process of beginning to build this kind of deep empathy at an impressionable age.

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Sanders covers the interactions between Kaya and Pak, not to mention her mother and the elephants, in a unique and innovative way, making sure to include culturally sensitive designs, clothes and hair for the Malaysian children without overdoing it in the story. Additionally, not many people have used a picturebook format to communicate the traditional melodies of Malaysia before, so that is unique as well when Kaya ends up hearing her heart song for the first time: “Boom taktak boom taktak boom shick shack shook” (Sanders, p. 21). Another important message in this picture book is the idea of people all moving at their own, individual pace. This is a lesson to be aware of when forming perceptions based on how people act towards us. We never truly know what is happening inside peoples’ minds, and knowing everyone has their own pace and perception helps us better understand and appreciate others that differ from ourselves.

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Marvelous Maravilloso

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Author(s)/ Illustrator/Photographer: Carrie Lara, illustrated by Christine Battuz

 Publisher and Year Number of pages: Magination Press, 2018, 30 pages.

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: The cover features an artistic rendering of the protagonist with her biracial family, done in some lovely shades of pastel paints that are seen throughout the book. There is the father, a Latino, on her left and her mother, a white woman, on the right as they lay in a field of beautiful pink and red flowers on a pea-green background, and they all have blue flowers in their hair as well in a way that is not disturbing the equilibrium that Mother Nature has set in the scene. As for the book itself, it involves the story of the girl and her family as they navigate their relatively happy lives, pursuing “…the big word diversity-diversidad” (Lara, p. 13). The book is filled with a general bilingual vibe, and Spanish words are peppered into the text as it winds on through the countryside and to the city, where the family goes on a trip. The skin colors of the mother and father are compared, with the mom being called cream, or crema, and the father chocolate. His skin color makes the daughter very happy, and she remarks that it is ”… que rico chocolate!” (Lara, p. 17). This means “what delicious chocolate”, which is a nice message for Latino children who read this book and are looking for representation in an industry that has for too long not extended a hand to people who look like them. There is some background information provided at the end to help the precocious reader and their parents truly enjoy this story, as well learn about the turmoil that biracial couples have historically experienced.

Classroom Application: A central theme is the acceptance of others and appreciation of their differences, and the various descriptions of the family simply living their lives together make this an ideal text to teach this lesson to students. The author and illustrator demonstrate that everything must be done in a harmonious manner when it comes to diversity, and ostracization isn’t the best avenue to pursue when new or different people enter your community. How the children best learn this lesson would be up to the teacher, of course, but the passion shown by the main character in pursuing her goals of living a happy life, as well as loving “her own unique and beautiful color” (Lara, p. 1) are certainly some good lessons for teaching purposes. One possible lesson after reading the book would be to ask students who are perhaps coming out of two different backgrounds if this book reflects their lived experiences (if they are comfortable doing so, of course) and tie that into classroom curriculum. Students will also hopefully recognize, as the main character does at the end of the story, that our differences make us strong on this Earth, and at some point, we all need to realize “that’s not only okay…it’s maravilloso!” (Lara, p. 30).

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: The book’s setting is in a very diverse community among the biracial couple that raised the main character, and the unique cultural blend formed in that family unit due to the combination of English and Spanish-speaking cultures from the mother and father, respectively, is depicted and would be great material for a general elementary school classroom, due to the book being geared towards 3-8-year-olds. The traditions of the two peoples that combined to make the family are present in the fabric of the story with the frequent switching back and forth between English and Spanish. Lara explains this concept to the reader through the main character’s family members themselves, which are not only from different cultures but different living areas as well: “My grandma lives in a house surrounded by the deep colors of the forest, y mi abuela lives in the fast and bright colors of the city” (Lara, pgs. 8-9). The contrasts between Spanish and English, city and country, and rural and urban, are never viewed in a negative light; often, they are seen as a strength of the book and a testament to how diverse peoples and communities can get along quite well: “Colors make the world pretty, colors make the world interesting and beautiful. Without them, everything would look the same” (Lara, pgs. 10-11). The main character’s zeal that she derived from her parents to take care of all people and love them regardless of superficial differences are very heartwarming and needed in a world that too often hones in on those differences and uses them as an excuse to discriminate.

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Jerome By Heart

Posted on November 28, 2018 by | Comments Off on Jerome By Heart

Author(s), Illustrator/Photographer/Translator(s): Thomas Scotto and Olivier Tallec; Translated from French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick and Karin Snelson

Publisher and Year Number of pages: Enchanted Lion Books, 2009, 26 Pages.

Tags/Themes: France, LGBT, Gay, Childhood, Youth, Graham, Illustrators, French, 21st Century, Love, Social Conditions, Juvenile Literature, Childhood and Youth, and Dano.

Genre: Fiction

Descriptive Annotation: The cover features two young French boys-one named Jerome, and the other named Raphael-holding hands as they bike along, painted in very soothing watercolor shades, depicting a warm and friendly image of the sort of books that warms the heart. This is a combination of both standard children’s book imagery and the kind of socially conscious, but not abrasively so, type of book that often wins awards by daring to break out of the binary, heterosexual relationships so normally seen in literature. The drawings that appear in plentiful quantities inside the book are lovely in their simplicity, showing the two boys simply loving each other and participating in normal friend activities. Their experiences are described as a waterfall of love and excitement to be in each other’s presence, resulting in a profession of true love and devotion that even the most hard-hearted cynic can admire: “I’ve made up my mind. From now on, every day is for Jerome” (Scotto, p. 12). As he and his childhood friend hang out often, Raphael learns to love himself as well in the process when his parents disapprove of their relationship: “‘I had the best dream last night! It was good in a Jerome kind of way.” Dad stares at his shoelaces like he doesn’t hear a word I’m saying. Mom digs through my backpack and sighs, ‘Eat your cereal, Raphael’” (Scotto, p. 14).  As a way to combat his fears that result from his parents not approving of the relationship, Raphael hones in on the things that really matter: “I forget about my mom and dad. I think only about Jerome, who I know by heart” (Scotto, p. 26). The whole of the boys’ trials, from growing up in the tightly repressed schoolyard where boys and girls make fun of their relationship, to experiencing true freedom in the first half of the book where they plan on going to wonderful places together are a key part of their story. Prior knowledge of what the implications of this relationship meant as little as 9 years ago since there have been many gains in the struggle for gay rights since then, would certainly be useful in the scenario of students reading this book in the classroom.

Classroom Application: In this picture book, the illustrations depict what is and what is not permitted by the social settings the boys interact in at various stages of the story. These lessons would be ideal for some social studies settings which have students that perhaps have had experiences with bullying or other similar encounters that weren’t positive in the past. For instance, if I was teaching this book in a lesson setting, I would mention that while I’ve never been bullied on the basis of my sexual orientation, some of my friends certainly have, and have been estranged from family or relatives. They have had to suffer through both types of shunning from time to time and didn’t get to experience some of the freedoms that we take for granted. This is a teachable moment since it’s Scotto’s way of saying that Raphael and Jerome’s lives in France in times very similar to the present day were not so drastically different from what students today have to experience. It can be hard to teach in some ways. We must try as educators to do so, however, because if we don’t, students can easily feel excluded

Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: Scotto covers the different ways in which the boys are acknowledged as a couple, showing the contrast between those who accept the relationship (teachers and some students) and those who do not (different groups of students and Raphael’s parents): “He defends me when kids make fun of me. Incredible, right?” (Scotto, p. 10). Exasperated with his fellow youths and parents, Raphael gets depressed at times, but always circles back to the love and affection that Jerome shows for him and the latter’s ability to defend him against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. The return of the story’s mantra at the end of the book- “Raphael loves Jerome. I can say it. It’s easy” (Scotto, p. 26)-means that it has all come full circle and that the two boys will keep loving each other, even with people not being able to accept or understand their relationship.  This should be a widely taught and used piece of literature, both in the US and around the world, since it shows the profound love two young kids can have for each other at a tender age and the failure of the haters to ruin that love, which can never be truly suppressed.

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