Children's Literature as Fun‐House Mirrors, Blind Spots, and Curtains

Abstract

AbstractThe authors describe how Middle Eastern Muslims are represented in a text set of award‐winning picture books. Most were written by authors with outsider perspectives who wrote about (a) antiquated times and practices and (b) war‐stricken countries and dangerous journeys. Although most of the books are not problematic on their own, the large number of the same two stories obstruct many other Middle Eastern Muslim representations, creating blind spots for readers. Authentic books about authors’ beliefs, stories remembered from childhood, and connections between the Middle East and the West are also present, although to a much smaller extent. These themes are described and titles listed for classroom use. Ultimately, although children's literature offers the potential to validate readers’ communities and teach about others, it can also create barriers to understanding by only sharing partial stories, obscuring some stories by overrepresenting others, and revealing information that should not be shared.