Summary:
The major flaw in this whole onset is that the characters that are deaf in the books, which I have talked about in my reviews, are not from the perspective of a Deaf person. Since these books do not come from an insider’s perspective on Deaf culture, the authors portray deafness as a disability. There are Deaf people who see themselves within a cultural group and not having a disability, and there are deaf people who consider themselves a member of the cultural minority. It is unfortunate that the portrayal of Deaf children in multicultural children’s literature is sparse. Given that, I have found the following five books to be inspiring literature for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. A common theme across all of the books is how deaf and hard of hearing children can overcome their difference and enjoy life the way hearing children can because these books with characters who are deaf reinforce the use of their four other senses, for example, hearing music through their feet.
Reviews:
· Booth, Barbara D. Mandy. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1991.
This is a story about a young deaf girl, Mandy, and her grandmother. While Mandy and her grandmother are out for a walk in the woods one late afternoon, her grandmother loses a pin, which was given to her by her husband on their 25th Wedding Anniversary. They began searching for the pin in the last minutes of sunlight they had left; however, they were unable to find the pin after retracing their steps. Mandy’s grandmother is devastated by the loss of the pin, so Mandy makes a plan to sneak out into the woods after dark to search for the pin. Mandy is afraid of the dark because at night her heighten sense of sight is limited to “the end of her flashlight beam.” This book is about more than a child who is deaf; it is about the love and communication between Mandy and her grandmother.
· Millman, Isaac. Moses Goes To The Circus. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2003.
Moses is a young deaf boy in a hearing family. Millman takes us on Moses’ journeys in his other works: Moses Goes To School (2000), Moses Goes To A Concert (2002), and Moses Sees a Play (2004). Throughout the story, of Moses Goes To The Circus, we follow Moses and his family to the Big Apple’s Circus of the Senses. Moses uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with his parents and his little sister. Millman is the author and the illustrator and his richly detailed double-page spreads include boxed sequences picturing Moses signing phrases in ASL. This allows for children to follow along while learning signs and phrases in ASL.
· Peterson, Jeanne Whitehouse. I Have A Sister - My Sister Is Deaf. New York: HaperCollins, 1977.
Peterson wrote this story for her sister who, in fact, is deaf. Peterson tells her story from an insider’s perspective of the feelings she has for her sister. Peterson says on the first page that her sister “is special” and “there are not many sisters like mine.” She goes on to explain all of the things her sister enjoys, which readers can relate to because the things her sister enjoys are all things that are common interests of young children, even hearing children.
· Stryer, Andrea Stenn. Kami and the Yaks. Palo Alto, California: Bay Otter Press, 2007.
This is a story set in the Himalayas about a young, Sherpa boy who is deaf, named Kami. The illustrations are so authentic and allow the reader to view the mountain terrain from Sherpa society. Kami’s family does not think that he can be of any help when his father and brother set off to look for their yaks. Kami realizes that their yaks are missing and in trouble when the largest yak, Curly Horn does not respond to his whistle. Kami sees his father and brother set off to look for their yaks but he has a hunch that the yaks are elsewhere to be found. Although Kami is afraid to set off by himself in the Himalayas he is determined to use his amplified sense of observation to find the yaks during an oncoming thunderstorm. His search is successful and he finds that the youngest yak’s leg is caught in between two large rocks. Kami struggles through the hailstorm as he returns to camp to inform them of his discovery; however there is a communication barrier. Kami uses gestures to communicate his discovery to his father and brother. Kami proves he can rise above the limitations that life has brought to him by using a different form of communication with his family.
· Woodson, Jacqueline. Feathers. New York: The Penguin Group, 2007.
This is an inspiring young adult novel about the struggle of segregation in the 1970’s. The narrator, Frannie, is fascinated with a poem she is reading in school. The poem is by Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Frannie hadn’t thought much about hope but after she encounters much segregation in the world that surrounds her, she starts to look at things in a new light. Frannie’s brother, Sean, is deaf, and remains a secondary character throughout the book. However, Frannie starts to see the world from Sean’s perspective as a person who is deaf and segregated from the hearing world. Woodson intended for this book to show her readers the many different ways people found hope in the world, by looking beneath the surface.
Critical Review of Scholarly Article:
· Bailes, Cynthia Neese. "Mandy: A Critical Look at the Portrayal of a Deaf Character in Children's Literature." Multicultural Perspectives Vol. 4, Issue 4, October 2002, p3-9, 7p. Web. 1 Apr 2009.
This scholarly article takes a critical look at the portrayal of Deaf characters in children’s literature focusing on the book Mandy. Cynthia goes on to talk about how Deaf characters are rarely represented in multicultural literature and when they are, they are “positioned in the context of being within a disability group rather than of a cultural persuasion” (2). Cynthia also talks about the importance of the perspective of the author: insider vs. outsider. “Of crucial consideration is how the author’s background positions [them] to represent this cultural group through their characterizations” (3). As you read a book, it is critical that the reader “consider[s] whether stereotypes about Deaf people are conveyed and reinforced through the author’s characterization of Deaf characters” (3). One should question when reading these texts, “Whose world-view is mirrored here?” (3).
