“Why Do We Have Different Skins Anyway?”: Exploring Race in Literature with Preschool Children

Abstract

In this article, the author argues that young children are capable of and competent in discussing topics of race. Sharing picture books with racial narratives with young children is a way to help them reflect, value, and empathize with the diverse nature of society. A picture book by Jacqueline Woodson, The Other Side, is explored more deeply with a small group of preschool children. The analysis of the small-group discussion suggests that engaging in multiple interactive and open-ended read-alouds of the same text, alongside reflective teaching, can encourage the validation and valuation of People of Color as well as children’s own racial identities; critical questions and active engagement in topics of race, skin color, and tone; and engaged citizens who can ask questions and participate in dialog about social and cultural differences.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge and thank Angie Zapata, Tamara Hancock, and Josh Nothom for their feedback on various editions of this manuscript.

Notes

1 Pláticas literarias were weekly literature discussions held in a bilingual (Spanish/English) classroom. The pláticas literarias discussed in Boutte et al. (2011) were focused on meanings of race and racism in the context of children’s literature within a second-grade classroom.

2 I purposefully have chosen not to capitalize the “w” in white throughout this article to call attention to the unearned privileges of people who identify as white in the United States.

3 I use the term “data production” rather than “data collection” as a way to signify how my existence as a researcher and teacher in the classroom stimulated and produced new thinking and conversations.