art + literacy with bilingual children

One thing seriously lacking in LIS-based research and education, in my opinion, is the examination of quality multicultural and multiethnic children's literature. The education field in general has a good grip on research in this area (publishing research in publications such as Language Arts and the Multicultural Journal ,) but the LIS field is slow to focus on this area of study. It seems counter-intuitive to many children's librarians who often spend at least some time developing their multilingual and multicultural collections, suggesting literature to second-language speaking populations, and developing skills in other languages to effectively serve the needs of minority library users. Why don't more library-related publications publish more on the subject of multicultural children's literature? It has only been since the introduction of the Pura Belpre award that serious attention has been devoted to this subject.

This leads me to introduce one of my favorite articles: Art and Literacy with Bilingual Children by Chris Liska Carger. The article identifies ways in which bilingual and bicultural children identify art and design elements to relate to the literature presented to them, and at the same time, their own personal cultural and linguistic identities. Children learn to embrace their cultural and ethnic background through quality visual and narrative representations of culture.

Check it out:
Carger, C. (2004). Art and Literacy with Bilingual Children. Language Arts, 81(4), 283-292.

The author helpfully identifies excellent examples of bilingual and bicultural children's literature, as well as crafts to compliment each story. I have referenced this article many times over the course of my craft instructorship (yes, it's kind of a big deal ;). Tomorrow night--our last session--will focus on artists of the world and the creation of color--how color is made and can be applied to make a coherent composition.

The books I'll use for the program are...

Paris in the spring with Picasso / by Joan Yolleck ; pictures by Marjorie Priceman

My Papa Diego and Me/Mi papa Diego y yo: Memories of My Father and His Art/Recuerdos de mi padre y su arte

A Bird or 2: A Story About Henri Matisse

My name is Georgia / by Jeanette Winter.

Henri Matisse : drawing with scissors / by Jane O'Connor ; illustrated by Jessie Hartland (I’m not reading this one---just using it as an example for the art project)