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Writer's pictureSarah Scrattish

Identity, Empathy, and More

The theme within the readings for this week surrounded identity, more specifically gender identity, as directly addressed in Sparkle Boy by Leslea Newman and illustrated by Maria Mola. Each of the stories has a way of forcing the reader to really examine themselves and where they stand within their own instinctive thought processes about gender, identity and what it means to love others, truly.


I have appreciated having the opportunity to read both of the assigned texts. Red, a Crayon's Story by Michael Hall is touching and insightful as it proves to stand up to the typical sayings of many bystanders and outsiders witnessing a child grow into their own skin. For example, the phrases, "they're just lazy," is one I myself, have heard often, and expressed over individuals who seem to not be coping with situations in life that others have previously, surpassed without issue. When reading this story, I felt it embodied the story of a character who feels ostracized by their own friends and family members. While written from the perspectives of inanimate objects like crayons, pencils, and scissors, I felt there was power within the characters. I also appreciate that this story is written from the perspectives of inanimate objects because it leaves it totally up to the reader for who these characters represent within their own lives. There really isn't any controversy to even be made over this book, because there isn't a certain people group being represented -- there is so much room for the reader's interpretation, and I love that.


This book also has some incredible artwork. Each page presents close-ups of the characters and their work. The drawings and coloring look similar to children's artwork which gives the book that wholesome and innocent feel -- relating back to my comment about this story feeling almost unable to stir up controversy because it surrounds the life of an inanimate, childlike object. The whole story feels pure in essence of the truth behind the main character's frustrations with attempting to vigorously mold into the label that was assigned to them before they even understood what it meant. The ease with which the crayon found when drawing things that are typically the color that he was inside, felt natural and smooth and exciting, to me as the reader, knowing that this character had found their niche -- their identity. Something else about the artwork in this story; the color Red being the label of the crayon just feels so aggressive and bold and angry as opposed to the color blue (representing his internal identity) being cool, calming, and smooth (the character traits that seemed to suit this character best).


Michael Hall wrote this story as a means to address his own struggles growing up with dyslexia. He states in an interview that he thought he "wasn't very bright," yet he realized the areas in his life where he did thrive -- areas outside of reading. His perspective and authenticity in writing this story reminds me of a quote I recently read in my Universal Design for Learning textbook (for another course), "...it is impossible to assess a learner's capacity without knowing the affordances of the learning context." Meaning that we cannot simply judge a child's abilities based upon the limited circumstances we have placed them within. Once we are able enough to humble ourselves about the practices we preach and the methods we swear by, only then may we be able to see beyond the limitations and enable our children to soar.


Keeping with our theme of identity, little Casey, in the story Sparkle Boy, is interested in all things sparkly and shiny -- not anything like what his older sister finds appropriate for a little boy to be enjoying! Throughout this empowering story of a young boy embracing his not-so-stereotypical likes, his older sister learns about unconditional love. This story seems like it could be seen as heavy on the topic of gender identity, but i believe this has just as much if not more of an emphasis on the importance of unconditional love, especially for your family members.


I feel that Newman has done a marvelous job of showing the deep emotions of embracing change and moving against the norm in such a powerful, yet simple way. She presents the idea that sticking up for others doesn't mean you have to necessarily agree with everything a person does, but it does mean you love the person no matter what their choices are and you love them through all of it.


The artwork by Mola in this story is sweet and soft, yet insightful into each of the character's emotions. Each page paints movement in the characters, showing action and change in each of their faces, ensuring to accurately depict their emotions.


Each of these stories presents its own well of possibilities for conversations with students. Either story could invoke an array of emotions and thoughts from students that could lead to some progressive discussion, moving towards students understanding their peers more, learning to love despite their differences, or really longing to see a change in their own surroundings and starting right within their classroom environment. I would love to take these texts into my own classroom in order to spark up some incredible wisdom and change among young learners with BIG hearts and ideas!






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