Discovering Our Own Identities
A Little Background Information
Red: A Crayon’s Story by Micheal Hall is a story about a crayon named Red, but is not a transitional red crayon. Red is unique because he actually writes blue. Other crayons in the story have a hard time accepting Red for who he is- and made him feel bad for not being able to write red. Many of the other crayons tried to help Red color red by doing things like sharpening him, cutting his wrapper, and even taping him back together because he was “broken”- but nothing worked! It wasn’t until Red met his friend, Berry. Berry wasn’t like the others. She convinced Red to help her draw an ocean for her boat. At first Red was hesitant because he wasn’t Blue and oceans are blue. Red ultimately decides to give it a try and makes a beautiful BLUE ocean. Berry even compliments Red’s drawing skills by saying “It’s perfect”. Red decided to draw even more blue things- like blue jeans, blue whales, and even blueberries. At the end of the story, Red accepts that he is Blue and the other crayons begin giving him words of affirmation.
Sparkle Boy by Leslea Newman is about a young boy named Casey who loves everything Sparkly! Throughout the story Casey sees his older sister, Jessie, having multiple things that are sparkly. Each time Casey saw these things he also would want one. His sister, Jesse, would become annoyed and try to tell her brother that he couldn’t have one of the sparkly things because he was a boy and “boys don’t do that”. When Jessie looks to the adults in their lives to confirm her statements, the adults say that Casey can have it also because he likes it and that is all that matters. In the beginning of the story, Jessie does not approve of Casey's choice to wear sparkly things until they go to the library together and other kids start teasing Casey. Jessie didn’t like this at all and stands up for her brother by telling the others that boys can wear whatever they want.
Breaking Down Stereotypes
Sparkle Boy by Leslea Newman and Illustrated by Maria Mola addresses stereotypes as well as gender identity. Newman addresses many stereotypes throughout the book. For example, there is a stereotype that boys cannot wear skirts or do anything “girly”. Chase loves all things that sparkle- so he wants to do things like wear sparkly bracelets, wear shimmery skirts and paint his nails with glittery nail polish. This was a challenge for his sister, Jessie, to understand. Each time Chase wanted something sparkly she would look to the adults to agree with her that “boys don’t do that”. To her disbelief, the adults supported Chase’s uniqueness because he was expressing himself and what he likes. Jessie remains annoyed until both siblings are at the library and a few children begin to make fun of Chase. Jessie has this moment where she decides that those kids are not going to be getting away with teasing her brother and she stands up to them saying it doesn’t matter what people wear or do because everybody should be able to do things that make them happy. This book does a great job showing readers that it is okay to express yourself and have interests that don’t necessarily follow the “status quo”. Also, throughout Newman's words and Mola's illustrations, the reader is able to gain an understanding that gender is a spectrum and that gender identity is different for everyone. In the text, adults' thoughts and perceptions are seen as accepting and encouraging self-expression while Jessie challenges Casey's decisions on the things he likes, like the shimmery skirt. ​The way adults respond to both Casey's desires and Jessie's concerns shows the reader that it is okay to be yourself- even if it makes you unique and it shows how adults can be supportive of breaking stereotypes!
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Red: A Crayon's Story By Michael Hall reflects on many experiences that Hall had as a child growing up with Dyslexia and struggling in school. In his reflection on his book, he shared that he always thought that something was wrong with him because of his label. However, Hall had supportive people in his life that helped him overcome stereotypes associated with Dyslexia and break free from his label. This story shows how damaging labels can for a person- they can make them feel like they are not good enough or a sense of not belonging. These things can damage a person as well as their identity. When sharing books like Hall’s story with students we are teaching students about the importance of identity and how being different than other people is okay because it makes us unique!
Let's Talk Artistic Media
When examining the artistic media of each of these books it becomes evident that there is a lot of attention to details in the artwork in each book. Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall features vibrant colors that you would find in a box of crayons in addition to some pages that have almost a rough texture. These rough pages are primarily black and have a texture on them that is not as smooth as the other pages. The black pages also tend to be the pages where suggestions are made on how to “fix” Red so that he would stop coloring blue. I think that this is a very unique- but powerful approach as Hall sets up the message that he wants to get across to readers. I also noticed that many of the drawings that the crayons have made are somewhat “scribbled”. I think that this small detail is quite powerful. Many children struggle with fine motor skills and have difficulty coloring inside the lines. I think that the author strategically chose this detail to help strengthen one of his many messages about expressing yourself- even if it goes against the “status quo”. When looking at Sparkle Boy, the color scheme is very muted.This illustrator uses the painting media to display the illustrations throughout the book. The muted color scheme allows the sparkles on each page to really “pop”, catching the reader’s eye. The artwork for the setting of this story is something that many readers can make a connection to as well. For example, many students probably have a puzzle at their home, just like Chase and Jessie do in the story. Lastly, I noticed that the outfits that Jesse wears throughout the story mostly become brighter as she begins to realize and accept that it doesn’t matter what you wear or play with as long as it makes you happy.
Laminack & Kelly
In Chapter One of Reading to Make a Difference, the reader takes a close look into a second grade classroom that is exploring identity. The teacher guides students to begin thinking about two forms of identity, internal and external. She scaffolds students by saying things like "look closely at our physical features- including our eyes and hair, our skin and stature- and notice what features make us visible and known to others. Then we move inward and explore the notion that our identity also includes parts of us that cannot be seen” (Laminak & Kelly, 4) to help them begin thinking about internal and external characteristics of their identities. This teacher's statement is very powerful because she is teaching students that identity is not necessarily something that is explicitly shown outward- it can be internal too. I think that this chapter connects to this weeks texts because both main characters identities are not only shown externally- but the reader gets a glimpse of who the characters are internally as well. I love the message that the teacher that is highlighted in this chapter as well as these authors are sending to students about being true to themselves- even if it makes them different!
About The Authors
Michael Hall
Michael Hall is the author and illustrator of Red: A Crayon's Story. Chick here to see a list of awards Hall has received.
Leslea Newman
Leslea Newman is the author of Sparkle Boy. Click here to see a list of awards Newman has received.ext and edit me. It's easy.
Maria Mola
Maria Mola is the illustrator of Sparkle Boy.
Sources
Hall, Michael (2015). Red A Crayon's Story. Harper Collins publishing
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Laminak, L. L. & Kelly, K. (2019). Reading to Make a Difference: Using literature to help students speak freely, think deeply, and take action. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
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Neman, Lesla (2017). Sparkle Boy. Lee and Low Books.