Culture 6 Inclusive Literature

Bibliography

MY BROTHER, MATTHEW
Thompson, Mary. MY BROTHER, MATTHEW. 1992. USA: Woodbine House. ISBN 0933149476.

Plot Summary

David understood that his brother was different. “Besides speaking differently, my brother also moves and sometimes behaves differently than most kids do. That’s because he was born with disabilities.” At the beginning, it was hard for David to accept all the attention given to Matthew. He later got a better understanding of how much care Matthew needed. David learned to communicate with Matthew better than his parents.

One of Ms Thompson’s children was born with disabilities which inspired her to write a story about a child with disabilities. She has skillfully presented the care, patience, and love needed to help a child with special needs grow and enjoy life.

Critical Analysis

Ms Thompson’s firsthand experience of dealing with a child with disabilities has enabled her to present a wonderful story. She went into great detail about Matthew’s stay in the hospital and how it affected his family, especially David. She gave us a glimpse of what a child thinks and feels about a sibling that needs extra attention. “I was tired of waiting and I was worried. I didn’t know what would happen to my brother….I just wanted Mom and Matthew home.”

David is sharing the story and he tells about his normal feelings of jealousy and this makes the story real. Even David's birthday party was interrupted when his Dad had to rush off to the hospital because of Matthew. David was mad but he still just want his brother to get better.
Things only got worse. Matthew got a special person who brought toys just for him. “I wanted to play with the special toys, but they were just for Matthew.” Even when David wanted to be a little mean, it turned out to be a good thing for Matthew. “Don’t splash Matthew!” Mom shouted at me just before I hit the water. But when I came up, Matthew was smiling and splashing in all directions. He liked my dive.” Children can connect to these real feelings and it offers an understanding that they are okay.

David’s reaction to Matthew’s enjoyment of his space station supports the interaction of children with a child who is disabled. Dr. Vardell stated in our lecture notes, “Through reading about disabilities, young people can learn to understand their own feelings related to disabilities.”

The watercolor illustrations help create a story of love and warmth. Pictures of a loving grandmother, smiling joyful parents, David and Matthew playing together, and the cats all help to tie the story together. Ms Thompson does a good job of avoiding stereotypical information that would cause pity.

MY BROTHER, MATTHEW does not portray a child that is pitiful, the object of violence or someone evil. It encourages a positive attitude towards a child that needs additional care. It shows a brother that recognizes that his brother is different. One especially passage was when David was talking about Matthew and how he embarrassed he at school, the library and a restaurant and David’s best friend said that his brother does some of the same things and he doesn’t have disabilities. It was a wonderful way to make the reader sensitive to the fact that all of us have flaws.

Review

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL—This book can be used as bibliotherapy within a family or for more general audiences to create an understanding of the different challenges and achievements of a disabled child. (The text does not state what Matthew's problem is, but the back cover says he was born with a brain injury.

CONNECTIONS

Parents and teachers can use this book as an introduction to children with disabilities. It can show ways to interact with a child with special needs.

Middle school children can use this book to compare the needs for children with and without disabilities. They can do research papers to present ways to interact with classmates with special needs.



Similar Books

DON’T CALL ME SPECIAL: A FIRST LOOK AT DISABILITIES by Pat Thomas
ROLLING ALONG: THE STORY OF TAYLOR AND HIS WHEELS, by Jamee Riggio Heelan
FRIENDS AT SCHOOL, by Rochelle Bunnett
WE CAN DO IT! By Laura Dwight
SOMEONE SPECIAL, JUST LIKE YOU, by Tricia Brown

Bibliography

HABIBI
Rye, Naomi Shihab. HABIBI. 1999. New York: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing. ISBN 089801491 (hc)

Plot Summary

Liyana Abboud’s life changed when she, her brother, and parents moved from the states to Jerusalem. Life in St. Louis was drastically different than her new home. It’s not just her surroundings but the hatred between the Jews and the Palestinians. Her secret friendship with Omer gives her hope. Liyana’s family accepts Omer and gives him advice about the struggles ahead of him. It was one step towards making a change in her new world.

Critical Analysis

Ms Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother. She has the insight to establish an identity for Liyana. The story captures your interest in the first chapter with the question of “Who did Liyana kiss?” Ms Nye then takes you through the trials of moving to another country.

In the excitement before the Abboud’s leave for Jerusalem, Liyana has a discussion with her father about an Emily Dickinson poem. It starts, “I’m nobody, who are you?” Lyiana said that she felts more nobody than when she was in the second grade. Her father reassured her of his love for her, “Oh habibti, don’t say that! You’re everything you need to be!” Habibti is an Arabic word for “beloved.” Teenagers will connect with this act of reassurance of a parent’s love.

Ms Nye did a good job of instilling the fear of going through immigration in the chapter “Pals.” The Israeli agents singled out Liyana’s family as looking like troublemakers. Their bags were thoroughly searched for something to detain them but nothing was found. Some of the details were familiar to me because of my travels to Belize. You indeed get nervous when they search your things and are so rude.

Many cultural markers are given in one instance when Sitti and their other relatives first visited them in the hotel. Their clothing, names and description of their taxi ride. Poppy realized from the details of their check point that some things had not changed very much in how Palestinians were treated.

Adventurous things move the story along. The Abboud’s being forced to visit the village on their first night when Poppy said they wouldn’t. Liyana noticed that Poppy had returned to being Sitti’s son and he was following her instructions. Poppy was able to avoid some of their customs. He had his family eat out of separate plates rather than they eat communally. You get the privilege of seeing some of Poppy’s background of how he grew up in Jerusalem.

Liyana showed her quick wit at getting accepted to an Armenian school. She mentioned an author they had studied, Saroyan, and the Priest enrolled her. The Priest notices her ring and says she can’t wear it to school. She asks, “Why is that?” and the answer was “Distraction.” Walking away Liyana said, “Distraction? If I were wearing a giant cosmic cone on my head, would I have room to talk? What a teenage reaction. Nye’s use of humor kept the story for bogging under the many difficult topics she covered.

You learn a lot of history from the talks that Poppy has with his children, refugee camps, check points, village life, languages, and many foods. The children liked the roasted pumpkin seeds. Liyana wasn’t keen on roasted lamb. Liyana’s friendship with Omar is diversity within a diverse story. Although it started off as a secret friendship. It ended as a hope for the future. Sitti reads Omar’s tea leaves. “There are walls. You can’t break them. Just find doors in them. See? You already have. Here we are, together.”

HABIBI allows the reader to see parts of the history of the Middle East. It gives a view of the details of going through immigrations. It’s a good book to share with older children.

Reviews

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL— Nye introduces readers to unforgettable characters. The setting is both sensory and tangible: from the grandmother's village to a Bedouin camp. Above all, there is Jerusalem itself, where ancient tensions seep out of cracks and Liyana explores the streets practicing her Arabic vocabulary. Though the story begins at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti can say, "I never lost my peace inside."

Kirkus Reviews—In her first novel, Nye (with Paul Janeczko, I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You, 1996, etc.) shows all of the charms and flaws of the old city through unique, short-story-like chapters and poetic language. The sights, sounds, and smells of Jerusalem drift through the pages and readers glean a sense of current Palestinian-Israeli relations and the region's troubled history. In the process, some of the passages become quite ponderous while the human story- -Liyana's emotional adjustments in the later chapters and her American mother's reactions overall--fall away from the plot. However, Liyana's romance with an Israeli boy develops warmly, and readers are left with hope for change and peace as Liyana makes the city her very own.

CONNECTIONS

HABIBI can be used an introduction in World History to the changes in Jerusalem over a certain time period.

Children can discuss the reasons why families move internationally. Children can give their views on the subject of immigration. The similar book list provides other books dealing with immigration.


Similar Books

THE OTHER SIDE OF TRUTH by Beverly Naidoo
SITTI’S SECRETS by Naomi Shihab Nye
LETTERS FROM RIFKA by Karen Hesse
ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Nunoz Ryan
IMMIGRANT KIDS by Russell Freedman

Bibliography

AND TANGO MAKES THREE
Richardson, Justin and Parnell, Peter. ill. Cole, Henry. AND TANGO MAKES THREE. 2005. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689878451.

Plot Summary

Each family has its own special circumstances. This story is about a set of special penguins that form a family. Roy and Silo are two male penguins who become a couple. They perform all the rituals just like the male and female penguin couples. The zoo keeper observes the special couple trying to hatch a rock that looks like an egg. He provides Roy and Silo with a real egg which they take turns warming until it hatches. Roy and Silo have a daughter to raise, Tango. They live happily as a family in the New York Central Park Zoo.

Critical Analysis

Mr. Richardson has taken a true story and provided an underlying story that can apply to children with special parents. He explains clearly the traditional characteristics of penguins and how Roy and Silo display the same characteristics. The reader can draw additional connections to their family or the listeners.

It’s a gentle approach to promote intercultural understanding of a nontraditional family. The story challenges us to look at something that has happen and the good that came from it. Children with two mothers or two fathers have a chance to see a family similar to theirs.

The name was such a good idea. “We’ll call her Tango,”….”because it takes two to make a tango.” Roy and Silo treated her with the same care as the other parents. Children can relate to being treated with care just like their friends.

The illustrations of the zoo families capture your attention and the double page spreads quickly move the story along. The detail of the chinstraps, rock nests, soft black and white penguin figures and all the Central Park surroundings provide a perfect setting.

Roy and Silo did everything like the other couples. “They bowed to each other and walked together. They sang to each other and swam together.” It’s a connection, a cultural marker to develop an insight that different families act the same as traditional families in a lot of the same ways. It was stated as the zoo keeper’s opinion, “They must be in love.” It was not a fact and I believe that there are those who can use it to open up a discussion with the subject of homosexuality.

Reviews

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL—The dedicated and enthusiastic fathers do a great job of hatching their funny and adorable daughter, and the three can still be seen at the zoo today. Done in soft watercolors, the illustrations set the tone for this uplifting story, and readers will find it hard to resist the penguins' comical expressions. The well-designed pages perfectly marry words and pictures, allowing readers to savor each illustration. An author's note provides more information about Roy, Silo, Tango, and other chinstrap penguins. This joyful story about the meaning of family is a must for any library.

Booklist—Emphasizing the penguins' naturally ridiculous physiques while gently acknowledging their situation, Cole's pictures complement the perfectly cadenced text--showing, for example, the bewildered pair craning their necks toward a nest that was "nice, but a little empty." Indeed, intrusions from the zookeeper, who remarks that the nuzzling males "must be in love," strike the narrative's only false note. Further facts about the episode conclude, but it's naive to expect this will be read only as a zoo anecdote. However, those who share this with children will find themselves returning to it again and again--not for the entree it might offer to matters of human sexuality, but for the two irresistible birds at its center and for the celebration of patient, loving fathers who "knew just what to do."


CONNECTIONS

A good use for AND TANGO MAKES THREE is to open discussions on family trees. Children have an opportunity to discuss their families and any similarities.

Older children can discuss how they feel about the subject of homosexuality and how classmates from families such as this should be treated.

Children can research to find other types of penguins.

Frees children to role play during center time and allows them to use their imagination.
Children can walk and sing like penguins.
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