Intro:

Social Justice and Cartoons, The Perfect Combination...

When you were a kid, what was the one thing you had to do in school no matter the subject or language?

Read.

Reading is considered to be an essential life tool and effective learning skill. From a young age, it is encouraged to develop reading skills. Reading to children at young ages, as early as toddlers, shows to have a significant impact on their literacy skills when they start school (O'Keefe, 2014). When children are young, they are taught

about what is right and wrong as well as other important morals and ethics. Most of these things are taught through books as most children's books have important lessons in them. An important theme that should read by children is books about social justice issues. These issues can include civil liberties and racial injustice, women’s rights, and labor movements. It is important to include these subjects in mediums friendly to children, written in ways that would be easier for them to understand. Young children are the future; thus, it is essential they learn about these issues and their history. Reading is an essential skill that is important to develop at young ages. Reading stories that have messages and morals about these topics will have a positive learning impact on young children.

Children’s literature is a valuable medium to communicate themes of social justice to young children in an uncomplicated way that effectively gets the message across and has fun at the same time.

The stories read by children are ones they tend to remember the most in their life, for example, my favorite book as a kid was the Little Red Caboose. If children are to read about social issues such as racism, they can understand that not only is wrong to treat someone that way but also they shouldn’t be treated like that. If they don’t know about things like racism, they may not realize it if someone were to be discriminatory towards them. Helping children identify negative emotions around them/being directed towards and teaching them how to deal with them is essential for their development (Keene, 2019).

There are many great examples of books, 4 of which were chosen to be analyzed. The story and morals will be explored, as well as how their messages will be effective lessons for children.

The stories chosen are:

• Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers Strike of 1909

• Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation

• The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist

• Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

If you go back to the main page, individual posts are available to read about each book.