February 21, 2018 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION Page 9
Black History
Readers are Leaders: Buy Your
Children More Books
stand setting, plot, and
characters.
By Elizabeth Primas
Program Manager,
NNPA/ESSA Public
Awareness Campaign
group enjoy books with
vibrant colors, a predict-
able pattern, and interac-
tive pages.
e are our chil-
dren’s
first
teachers, and
what we teach
them makes a difference.
According to research
by Betty Hart of the Uni-
versity of Kansas and
Todd Risley of the Uni-
versity of Alaska, by age
3, poor children have
an accumulated expe-
rience with 30 million
less words than their
wealthier counterparts;
a greater percentage of
the words that poor chil-
dren accumulate were
discouraging compared
to their wealthier peers.
We have to read more
to our children and en-
courage them to read
more for themselves.
This year let’s help re-
duce the 30-million-word
gap by adding more
books to our shopping
list.
Books not only pro-
mote literacy, they also
encourage our children
to see themselves as an
integral and valued part
of the society in which
they live. Walter Dean
Myers, author of the crit-
ically acclaimed “Mon-
ster,” asserts that cultur-
ally relevant books help
young people to validate
their existence as human
beings.
Our Picks:
1. “Please, Baby, Please”
by Spike Lee & Tonya
Lewis Lee describes
the behind-the-scenes
look at the chills,
spills, and unequivo-
cal thrills of bringing
up baby.*
2. “Chicka Chicka Boom
Boom” by Mill Martin
Jr. uses an alphabet
rhyme to race to the
top of a coconut tree.
3. “Chicka Chicka 1,2,3”
also by Bill Martin Jr. is
the counting-themed
complement to the
popular “Chicka Chi-
ka Boom Boom.”
4. “Brothers
of
the
Knight” by Debbie
Allen is a modern
retelling of the clas-
sic tale “The Twelve
Dancing Princesses.”
Reverend Knight can’t
understand why his
12 sons’ sneakers are
torn to shreds each
and every morning,
and the boys aren’t
talking. They know
their all-night dancing
wouldn’t fit with their
father’s image in the
community.
Maybe
Sunday, a pretty new
nanny with a knack
for getting to the bot-
tom of household mys-
teries, can crack the
case.
Our Picks:
1. “The Broken Bike
Boy and the Queen of
33rd Street” by Sha-
ron Flake explores the
meaning of being a
good friend and “hap-
pily ever after.”
2. “Fifty Cents and a
Dream: Young Book-
er T. Washington” by
Jabari Asim tells the
story of a young Book-
er T. Washington, the
cherished American
educator and advisor
to presidents, jour-
ney five-hundred mile
journey to Hampton
Institute immediately
after emancipation.
He arrived with only
fifty cents in his pock-
et.
3. “Mr. Chickee’s Funny
Money” by Christo-
pher Paul Curtis takes
readers on an exciting
adventure with best
friends Steven, Rus-
sell, and Zoopy. Steven
was given a mysteri-
ous dollar bill from
Mr. Chickee, an elder-
ly blind man in the
neighborhood. When
Agent Fondoo from
the U.S. Treasury De-
partment finds out
about it, he wants the
currency back; but the
team of secret govern-
ment agents may have
met their match in the
three best friends.
8 years-old to 12 years-
old:
Children in this age
group are familiar with
story line. They under-
13 years-old to 18 years-
old:
By this age, teens have
established what they
like to read, and some
W
A Guide to Purchasing
Culturally Relevant
Books
Birth to 7 years-old:
Children in this age
Panther cont’d from pg 8
the movie.
Through all of the im-
proved writing of T’Chal-
la and his world, his spec-
tacular scientific ability
has remained prominent.
Wakanda continues to
be a successful African
nation with astonishing
science and technology.
Furthermore, and very
importantly,
T’Challa
is not portrayed as an
anomaly among his peo-
ple in this regard. There
are many great scien-
tists and engineers in
Wakanda, including his
half-sister Shuri. In some
accounts, she (in the con-
tinued scientist-ranking
business of comics) is
an even greater intellect
than he is.
‘If they can do it, then
why not me?’
As a scientist who cares
about inspiring more
people — including un-
derrepresented minori-
ties and women — to
engage with science, I
think that if a significant
portion of this scientif-
ic landscape appears in
“Black Panther” it could
amplify the movie’s cul-
tural impact.
Vast audiences will see
Black heroes of both gen-
ders using their scientif-
ic ability to solve prob-
lems and make their way
in the world, at an unri-
valed level. Research has
shown that such repre-
sentation can have a pos-
itive effect on the inter-
ests, outlook and career
trajectories of viewers.
Improving science edu-
cation for all is a core en-
deavor in a nation’s com-
petitiveness and overall
health, but outcomes are
limited if people aren’t
inspired to take an inter-
est in science in the first
place. There simply are
not enough images of
Black scientists — male
or female — in our me-
dia and entertainment
to help inspire. Many
people from underrep-
resented groups end up
genuinely believing that
scientific investigation is
not a career path open to
them.
Moreover, many peo-
ple still see the dedica-
tion and study needed
to excel in science as
“nerdy.” A cultural in-
jection of Black Panther
heroics could help con-
tinue to erode the crum-
bling tropes that science
is only for white men or
reserved for people with
a special “science gene.”
Given the widespread
anticipation for the up-
coming “Black Panther”
movie, if it showcas-
es T’Challa and other
Wakandans as highly
accomplished scientists,
it should give science en-
gagement a significant
boost worldwide.
Dr. Elizabeth Primas says that we have to read more to our children and encourage them to read more
for themselves.
have decided that they
don’t like to read at all,
but with the right books,
that can change.
Our picks:
1. “Firebird” by Misty
Copeland tell the sto-
ry of a young girl with
fragile
confidence
who questions her
ability to reach the
heights that Misty has.
2. “Americanah” by Chi-
mamanda Ngozi Adi-
chie is the coming of
age the story of an Ni-
gerian-American girl
discovering the mean-
ing of “blackness” in
the United States of
America. Her com-
panion Obinze, was
not able to join her in
the states due to post
9/11 immigration pol-
icies and they eventu-
ally stop contact. He
chose to try his chanc-
es as an undocument-
ed person in London;
as an alternative to
the American dream.
However, they reunite
years later in a newly
democratic Nigeria.
3. “Tears of a Tiger”
by Sharon M. Drap-
er uses the grief of a
young Andy to refute
the belief that strong
boys don’t cry. After
allowing the death
of one of his close
friends consume him,
a series of letters,
articles,
homework
assignments, and dia-
logue makes clear that
indeed tigers do cry.
Dr. Elizabeth Primas is
an educator, who spent
more than 40 years work-
ing towards improving
education for children
of diverse ethnicities and
backgrounds.