Blog Post 2: A Children's Book That Made A Difference

“Once in jungle, far far away a herd of zebras grazed each day. They pranced and played and had great fun, except one…his stripes were not black but of a brighter hue. Of yellows, greens, and reds, and blues!”

One children’s book that made a difference in my life was entitled The Rainbow Zebra, the basis for the title of this blog. The Rainbow Zebra was a story about a zebra exterior appearance was a source of ridicule and ostracizing. It was especially written and illustrated by a family friend for myself and my younger sister as children. It was always Daddy’s favorite book to read to us more so than our personal favorites (like Tikki Tikki Tembo and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom). Now as an adult and an educator I can see why. Its subject matter was socially and culturally inclusive of gender, race, sexuality, culture, and even personality. The fact that the main character was a rainbow colored animal allowed for less social/political signifiers that could potentially distract us from the morals. My sister and I could easily identify with the main character and learned that there are some differences that come without explanation. We learned that you shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are, and that once everyone gets past their initial differences we can “all play and have fun together”.

Blog Post 1: My First Recollection of A Children's Book

Although I can’t quite recall my very first children’s book, there are a number of memorable bedtime stories and other tales that my parents and particularly my father used to read to my sister and me. The two earliest and most memorable were I’m A Little Mouse and Tikki Tikki Tembo. It was so influential that when I read the books to my students well over a decade later I subconsciously used the exact same character voices that my father did as though the book could only be read one way. Reading with Daddy always made the stories that much more fun and memorable for that reason.

I’m A Little Mouse was a “touch and feel book” as Daddy put it about a baby mouse searching for his mother. The author used different materials to help its pre-school readers differentiate between the animals. In his squeaky voice the little mouse asked bears, fish, turtles, and even snakes, “I have fuzzy grey fur and a longgggg pink tail… I’m a little mouse! Are you a mouse too?” The turtle responded, “I have a lummmpy bummmpy shell, and I don’t move very fast. I’m not a mouse, I’m a turtle!” (in my best impression of Daddy’s slow deep turtle voice). To this day, I still remember the lines of all our favorite stories like clockwork.

Tikki Tikki Tembo was a Chinese folktale about two young brothers who were treated unequally by their mother. The older one was clearly more appreciated by his family and community for being the first-born. Even as an adult I sometimes reflect on the lessons I learned from this book when my sister and I are at odds about equal treatment from my parents.