Week Two: Children's Book with a Diversity Focus

    Researching a book for this week's blog was difficult for me. I grappled with using a book with a culturally diverse character or a character that faced adversity due to physical challenges/differences. I found various books, but none made me eager to share with my students until I found Perfectly Norman by Tom Percival and Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña. Perfectly Norman won the battle, but Last Stop on Market Street is also an incredible book. 

    Perfectly Norman is about a young boy who was perfectly normal until he grew wings. The fantastical aspect of the story takes the pressure off of how his body is different because growing wings isn't something that could realistically happen. Norman wears a coat to cover his wings because he doesn't want anyone to see that he is different than other people. Throughout the story, Norman's coat seems to hold him back from freely being himself. At the end of the book, Norman decides to remove the coat and finds out that others also hid their wings. 

    This book is an excellent pathway into an elementary school activity, "The Best Part of Me", where students pick what they believe is the best part of themselves, photograph it, and in some cases, display it in the hallway to showcase everyone's uniqueness. You could incorporate positive affirmations into your classroom culture to preface this activity and combat students having difficulty finding something positive about themselves. It is also important to personally know the student before doing this activity. As the teacher, you want to give the student genuine examples that depict distinct characteristics of that individual student. The teacher will also need to be willing to share examples about themselves such as, "My voice is the best part of me because it allows me to advocate for people who may not have one." It's important to note that this activity isn't limited to physical attributes; the student could point to their head and take a picture if they think their best feature is their brain. I also found a similar activity, "Perfectly Me", when researching book images for Perfectly Norman. Instead of the photograph focusing on uniqueness, have everyone pose the same way and have each student write about the best part of themselves. 

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    Perfectly Norman teaches us that it is better to show your true identity than to hide and conform to societal norms. This book could spark a great discussion about tattoos in a middle school classroom. In the past, tattoos were frowned upon and hidden when you were at work. Now, people proudly show their tattoos as they represent their individuality and things that are important to them. Should people be allowed to display the art they believe is a form of self-expression; should they be made to cover it for fear of offending someone of an older generation?

    Uniforms would be another great debate to have in the classroom. In Perfectly Norman, the main character hides what makes him unique to be seen like the other children. Would imposing uniforms on students be an overreach by local government and a way to pressure students to conform to what they believe is acceptable in society? This is a great question to help students make a connection between this children's book and their lives as young adults. 

Another way to use this book is in a small group counseling setting in upper grades by focusing on how Norman feels the need to hide his differences from his family and friends just as many LGBTQ+ students may.