Anti-Bias Picture Book: Assignment Template
Name: Raine Chornomitz
Chapter/Topic: Chapter 12 – Families
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NZ2O0jiFRS2RG4VX-1QgEnqGz4AkXc5A9zhWD-A_8hE/edit?usp=sharing
Picture Book Assessment
Picture book title: Stella Brings the Family
Web link (if available): https://youtu.be/uKZXuPBhX_Y
Author: Miriam B. Schiffer
Illustrator: Holly Clifton-Brown
Brief summary of book: Stella’s class is having a mother’s day party! Everyone is excited… except for Stella. Stella has 2 dads, and doesn’t have a mom to bring to the party. She gets all the love she needs from her Papa, Daddy, Nonna, aunt Gloria and uncle Bruno, and cousin Lucy, and has never worried about not having a mom before—these people are her family! This starts to bother Stella throughout the days leading up to the party. Fortunately, Stella finds a solution feeling more loved than ever!
Bias Criteria*:
| Criteria | Explanation |
Are there stereotypical images? Are there diverse populations? Are characters depicted realistically (no exaggerated features)? |
I think the illustrations are great in this book. There are no stereotypical illustrations throughout the book. There are is diversity in race throughout the book, and the characters are depicted realistically. |
Is there a ‘one only’ person? Is there diversity within groups? |
There is more than one representation of different family dynamics throughout the books. Stella has 2 dads, Howie has 2 moms, and Jonathan’s grandma came with him while his mom was away in the Army (depicting that that may often me his primary caregiver at times). There is diversity within the family structures as well: Howie’s moms are multiracial. |
Who’s present? Which groups are not included? |
Most groups are included here in this book: many different races and family dynamics. However, I am not seeing any presence of ability—physical ability anyway. This is why we would need multiple family dynamic books that focus on different aspects: maybe another book on a bookshelf would have a child who is in a wheelchair with 2 moms for example. |
Who are the central figures? Who is the’ doer’? Who supports the main character? Who belongs? Who’s excluded? |
The central figure of the book is Stella who is battling the antagonist: the fact that she doesn’t have a mother to bring to the party. It’s not that Stella doesn’t have anyone to love her—she has her 2 dads, uncle and aunty, and cousin and nonna who supports her. Her friends also support her as well. We see her friends questioning why Stella doesn’t have a mom and that she’s missing the important aspects of her life like bedtime stories and packing lunches (which Stella clarifies is not true), but this is just her friends trying to understand her situation. Her friend Johnathan suggests a solution to bring all her loved ones to the party. Everyone belongs in this book and no one is excluded—that’s why they found a solution! The problem at first was that the teacher called the party a mother’s day party, and all the children knew to bring their moms. However, the teacher also said bring a special guest (not a mother in specific). The resolution here right off the bat would have been to give the party a different name which would have saved Stella from so much stress (family appreciation day for example). |
What’s depicted as normal in the story? What are the value judgements? Do images and information go beyond oversimplification and offer genuine insights? |
There are no really “normal” depictions throughout the story. I was glad to see several different family dynamics. Even children going to and from school, some children would take the bus, walk/bike/scooter home, or some parents would come with their children. I guess it can be seen that it is assumed normal that every child brings a lunch and comes from a family who can provide from them in that way. This, again, is a reason why we must have several family books: the next one might show different family and economic class dynamics. One of the images near the end of the now shows Howie worrying about what he’s going to do for mothers day as he has 2 moms. Although the image almost brings a sense of humour to the book at this is what Stella went though and we know the solution, it is really a deeper image suggesting that teachers have to carefully teach in a trauma-sensitive way in which all students feel seen and loved. This way, students won’t have to be worrying about their family dynamics—this is something they shouldn’t have to be worrying about as a child! |
Does the book counteract messages that teach children to feel inferior or superior because of their skin colour, gender, family income, able-bodiedness, or type of family structure? Will all of the children [in your imaginary class see themselves] and their family’s way of life reflected? Can the book encourage belonging? |
The problem in this story is the fact that Stella doesn’t feel seen in her classroom because she doesn’t have a mom. Some students in my classroom might be able to relate to this as they have a different family dynamic. This book can help these students and teachers see the solution. This books works against the mainstream mom-dad family structure. This book therefore encourages belonging for children who may not have that typical dynamic in their homes and shows them that everyone’s family is unique and special. I would say, however, that this book is lacking the representation of ability and economic class diversity which would have to be made up for by other books on the shelf. |
Are diverse characters working together to create change (rather than a solitary hero)? |
Johnathan—who does have a mom—comes up with a solution for Stella that she should bring her whole family to the party. Stella’s papa and daddy approve of this idea, and receives support from her teachers and classmates as well. It is not just Stella working alone to resolve the issue. |
What qualifies the author or illustrator to deal with the subject? If the book is not about people or events similar to the author or illustrator’s background, what specifically recommends them as creators of the book? What is the author’s attitude toward her/his story characters? Are the images accurate and do the illustrators respectfully render the people in the story? |
Miriam has an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. This is her first book for children. Holly attended the Chelsea School of Art Media and Design and Bristol UWE Faculty of Art, Media and Design, and received a first class honours BA in Illustration. I could not find much information on whether the two dealt with different family dynamics and such motivating them to create this book, but I am assuming they would have to have the knowledge on different family dynamics and how children could potentially experience things differently in their lives due to the mainstream idea of a family—like Stella worrying about the mother’s day party. |
| 9. Watch for loaded words
A word is loaded when it in any way demeans or makes people invisible because of any of their identities. Are any such words present? |
I wouldn’t say there are any loaded words in this book. Of course, it would have been best if Mrs. Abbott wouldn’t have called the celebration a mother’s day party, but it was of course a part of the story to introduce the problem. |
How is the story applicable to children’s lives today? |
2015. Although this book is 8 years old, it is still very relevant to children’s lives today. I think this is a great book to teach about different family structures overall. |
Are there a variety of things to think about, question, and consider? Are issues explored, rather than preached? Are characters active? Is the text interesting? Is the story too didactic (too moralistic)? |
This book allows children to think of the issues of the mother’s day party, and realize that not all families look the same—Stella doesn’t have a mom but rather 2 dads. It is explored that Stella and her 2 dads are not the problem, but the labelling of mothers day and the assumption that everyone has a mother to bring is the issue which is, again, explored and not explicitly stated. The characters are active in this story, all curious about who does what for Stella if she doesn’t have a mom to do so (ex: who tucks you in and reads you a bedtime story). Stella clearly states that her dad and other family members fill these roles. The story is made interesting though the images, and the storyline itself, and is not morally depicting. |
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Overall a great book 🙂 |
Analysis
This children’s book is a great book to bring into the classroom to teach about one perspective of what a family looks like—Stella’s family. The book is missing some perspectives on families like adoptive and blended families for example, but this book is showing just one perspective of a LGBTQ2s+ family. We also see, although not in depth, Howie’s family representing an LGBTQ2s+ and a biracial family: “family members . . . ethnic and cultural identities and/or radicalized identities differ from each other, or families who identify as racially or ethnically mixed” (Derman-Sparks et al., 2020, p. 168). We even see a military family in a picture (Johnathan’s). Stella believes that her family is complete, even without a mother, and the problem is the systemic barrier of the celebration of mother’s day assuming everyone has a mother in their families. The textbook describes, “Definitions of family are unique to each child” (172). Stella and her 2 dads are not the problem, but the labelling of mother’s day and the assumption that everyone has a mother to bring is the issue. On page 174 in the textbook, the authors explain how “Addressing the theme of family diversity is about ensuring that existing activities are inclusive.” We can see in the children’s book how Mrs. Abbott was not really aware of the family circumstances, and if she was, she either didn’t know what to do or just ignored the issues regarding Stella’s dilemma. This just shows the perfect example for us aspiring teachers that implicit biases and discrimination in the classroom cannot be ignored but rather addressed and resolved so that our students won’t have to internally struggle like Stella did.
References
Derman-Sparks, L., Edwards, J. O., & Goins, C. M. (2020). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves (2nd ed). NAEYC.
Personal Reflection
Reflection on Readings
Being a highly sensitive person, I really resonated and was touched by this book. Although I cannot relate to family dynamic that Stella has, I was really able to put myself into her shoes and feel her struggles in this situation. Stella has never once thought twice about her family dynamic; her family is her family—it’s complete. However, the mother’s day party—and Mrs. Abbott—acts as a systemic barrier in this story. The labelling of “Mothers Day party” neglects all of the families that do not have a mother. This added a huge load of stress and confusion, I’m sure, for Stella. She could have even gotten the message that her family wasn’t as important or valid as the mainstream mom-dad family. This could have easily been avoided with more thought and consideration from the teacher. In the textbook, I really connected with the idea to make a class picture book titled Everyone in my Family, for example. By doing this, children will feel like they’ve contributed to something and will take pride any joy overlooking it and reminding themselves of the diversity there is within families (which would be the goal—wouldn’t work so well if there was no diversity among families). I also just really connected with the fact that there’s so many different family dynamics out there. It is up to us as educators to be informed and knowledgeable about these dynamics and really reflect our lessons and classroom environment in a way that makes all the students feel welcome no matter their background. Although I don’t have many questions about this chapter, I do feel a bit of unease when it comes to parents that may not be open to this idea of diversity in families and the education of this topic to their child(ren). Although the textbooks states that we must listen the parents and then state how we understand and restate our goals, I still don’t think this may be enough for some angry parents who believe we’re “turning their child gay.” However, I believe that I will build a confidence in which I can clearly state our goals. In ECS 203, I gained the knowledge that building a connection with the families can be a great contributor to this. Things like going to your student’s sporting events and such and a simple “Hi there, I’m Miss Chornomitz, Johnny’s teacher,” for example, can build this relationship with the families so when I do want to plan a lesson on family or gender diversity and such, I have already gained a bit of respect from the parents and they can potentially see where I’m coming from with the topic as we may be standing on this common ground already. This chapter of the textbook has also allowed me to reflect on my experience growing up: there was a girl in my grade who lost her mother in a terrible accident in grade 5. I never really thought on it much back then, but now I can see from a teacher standpoint just how important it is to be mindful of all students backgrounds. After this, we never celebrated mothers day the years after and I was always so upset, but now I realize that it was so that my friend wouldn’t be feeling left out and reminded of this terrible time. However, this was the very first time I had heard of a different family dynamic—everyone in my school (about 100 kids k-12) had the same family dynamic. There was no consideration for any families “out of the norm” as we continued to celebrate mother’s day until this tragedy.
Reflection on Class
We touched on many different aspects of family throughout our discussion. The biggest takeaway was that family is so much more than DNA and blood. It’s who you love the most and the people who are closest to you. A lot of us recalled how close family-friends to our parents that aren’t actually family, we would call aunty and uncle because they’re just so important in our lives. We didn’t really get into much detail on the different types of family dynamics, but reflected on our own which included the mainstream mom-dad-kid(s) relation, as well as biracial. We continued to talk upon who is considered family now and all agreed that our partners’ family is considered our family as well. It’s like we just add another member to the family which we all do in some way or form: having children, spouses, pets, etc. Our family dynamics looked similar, yet had their differences as well. For some of us, our moms and dads both worked a full time job away from home; some dads worked full time jobs and the mom worked her job at home; some moms were away at work for a bit longer so the dads were home more often with the kids at the farm. We touched on how many families have many different traditions and celebrations and there was diversity in this as well. For myself, any large gathering such as a wedding, anniversary, or graduation, all family members would do their best to make it out to celebrate—extended family, family-friends, and all. To put that into perspective, my parents had around 1000 people at their wedding! This is something that I would love to carry on as family is so important to us. Another group member, however, stated that their experience was the exact opposite as mine as she only has a handful of family even in the country. I think this activity overall taught us all that all families have different dynamics, and we can’t be one to judge when we don’t know what one is going through. Books like these are great to tach anti-bias education in the classroom. Facilitating this conversation and talking with my peers about this topic gave me a bit of ease. I know for a fact that the first time an angry parent comes to be—about family/gender diversity or anything—I will be sacred and I won’t know how to respond. I was reassured to know I am not the only one feeling this way. But I believe that knowing our intentions and being confident and standing up for what is right is a working progress. It’s all about humility, friends in colleagues, listening and learning, and constant growth.