Slowing Down, Reading, and Asking Provocative Questions
- Slowing Down, Reading, and Asking Provocative Questions
As Kęstutis Kasparavičius writes in his message for the 2019 International Children’s Book Day celebration, “Someone who enjoys reading—be it a child or adult—is much more interesting than someone who doesn’t care for books, who is always racing against the clock, who never has time to sit down, who fails to notice much of what surrounds us.” Slowing down, noticing, reading, inevitably lead to questioning: questioning the text, questioning ourselves, questioning others, questioning the world. The authors we host in this issue are interesting people—people who slow down, read, and question—so they inevitably ask interesting questions. And more often than not, difficult and provocative questions are the most interesting ones.
Kathy Short asks about the dangers of reading globally. She sees great value in reading globally, of course, but she also asks us to think about our social responsibilities as bookmakers, readers, and educators, and about what happens during the interaction of young readers with global literature when these responsibilities are taken lightly.
In “Fish Is People,” Perry Nodelman asks whether picture-books that feature anthropomorphic animals encourage children to ignore the “otherness” or difference of other species. And might children’s thinking about animal characters also be shaping how children think about different kinds of people? In a playful analysis of numerous picturebooks with a focus on fish, Nodelman asks: “Do we respect others because we think of them as being like ourselves, or because of our awareness and acceptance of their differences from us?”
Ann Alston asks even more difficult questions about the portrayal of female genital mutilation (FGM) in children’s literature, and Vassiliki Vassiloudi asks provocative questions in relation to refugee narratives produced, endorsed, and promoted by international refugee relief organizations. In an interview with Rob Bittner, author Elana K. Arnold asks us to consider what it currently means to write about sexual assault, rape culture, and violence against women and girls from a feminist standpoint. Asahi award winner Philippe Claudet poses provocative questions [End Page iii] about how blind children read the world and how tactile illustrated books (TiBs) have been adjusting to their different ways of reading. And finally, Saori Katagiri asks us to think how one makes and performs Kamishibai in Arabic for Muslims in Japan, when certain Kamishibai images are bound to shock and alienate this audience.
This is an open-theme issue, but it so happened that there is a vibrant, strong theme running across every single text in it: Slow down, read, and ask provocative questions. Enjoy.
Petros Panaou is a clinical associate professor at the Universit y of Georgia, Department of Language and Literacy Education, where he teaches children’s literature and literacy courses. He chairs the annual Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature and has also chaired the academic committee for the 36th IBBY Congress. Petros currently serves on the Newbery Awards committee and has served on USBBY’s Outstanding International Books committee. He has authored a book and several articles and book chapters on international children’s literature. He has translated two academic volumes and led multiple international grants. His unpublished novel for children and teens To Kinito (The Cellphone) was awarded a CYBBY honor in 2017.
Janelle Mathis is a professor of literacy and children’s literature at the University of North Texas, where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses centered on international children’s literature and its applications in research and instruction. She presents regularly at international children’s literature conferences, including IBBY Congresses and IRSCL, and has served on award committees, including the Outstanding International Books Award of USBBY. Janelle publishes on children’s literature studies, and recently co-edited with Holly Johnson and Kathy Short a book titled Critical Content Analysis of Children’s and Young Adult Literature (2017).
Acknowledgments
Janelle would like to acknowledge Katie Loomis from the University of North Texas for her assistance in the production process.
Petros would like to thank the following graduate students from the University of Georgia, who have worked diligently in shaping this issue: Julie Carbaugh, Poonam...
