Reviews 2013
Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World through Children’s Books
Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World through Children’s Books. Linda M. Pavonetti (ed.). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011. 521 pages. $58.95 (paperback).
Jacqueline Kennedy was once quoted as saying, “There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.” Can children’s literature act as a messenger of peace and expand young readers’ worlds? Linda Pavonetti shares just that hope in the acknowledgements to her book, Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World through Children’s Books. This bibliography of international children’s literature serves as a resource for classroom teachers, librarians, parents, and individuals who wish to expand young minds to move beyond stereotypes and superficial global perspectives.
The fourth book in the Bridges to Understanding series, Envisioning the World through Children’s Books, captures its audience in the first chapter, which was written by Andrea Cheng. Cheng chronicles the difficulty she has experienced when writing books about other cultures. Translation, accuracy, and misrepresentation all play a part in the attempt to produce a piece of literature that truly speaks for its culture. Cheng shares that when done correctly; a piece of literature should not divide people from different nations, but rather connect them through their commonalities (8).
In Chapter Two, Barbara Lehman shares several international titles and examines a necessary skill when reading international literature – reading critically. The authenticity of a book’s author is often questioned in international literature. Lehman shares two examples where this is true, the author of Song of Be, a novella set in Namibia by Lesley Beake, and in Julie of the Wolves, a book set in Alaska, by Jean Craighead George. Both authors have extensive personal background with the cultures shared in their writing; however both are not natives. Similarly, despite their cultural involvement, both have been criticized for their portrayal of characters, and both willingly defend their writing (13). Research on the part of the reader is necessary when experiencing global literature. This critical reading puts responsibility on both the author and the reader to question international text, which enhances the impact of the text that much more (14).
Subsequent chapters of the book are organized into geographical regions from Latin America and the Caribbean, to European countries, and many in-between, predominately by the authors’ native countries. Each region’s chapter includes annotated bibliographies of books from that area. The annotations mostly include key words associated with the book, interest levels, and how the book is culturally relevant. In addition, some entries also include information pertaining to awards, book fairs, online resources, and organizations for readers interested in further exploring literature from that country or region. For example, Chapter Eight details books from Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand. For each of those countries many book titles are included with brief summaries, key words, and the authors’ backgrounds. In the Related Information section of the chapter relevant organizations, special collections, and awards are detailed. Additionally, within Australia’s extensive listing The Norman Lindsay Festival of Children’s Literature is referenced. This unique festival is held at the former home and now museum of Norman Lindsay, author of The Magic Pudding, a popular Australian children’s book (192). This extensive information and more gives a complete picture to the reader in search of quality literature pertaining to the chapter’s highlighted countries.
Understandably, several of the countries detailed in the book’s chapters include more annotations and supporting information than other countries. Should the series continue the expansion of books and other pertinent information is sure to grow.
This extensive collection will undoubtedly be appreciated by anyone interested in expanding their depth of knowledge concerning international literature. It serves as an invaluable resource to classroom teachers and librarians who wish to include a global perspective into their classroom libraries. Finally, it provides a global community with an opportunity to make informed choices regarding international titles, and perhaps even serves as a chance to” build bridges” between differences.
Krista Varano
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, USA
Works Cited
Lewis, J.J. "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Quotes." About.com.
Till en evakuerad igelkott. Festskrift till Maria Nikolajeva / Celebrating a Displaced Hedgehog. A Festschrift for Maria Nikolajeva edited by Maria Lassén-Seger and Mia Österlund. Review by Sara Van den Bossche.
Picturebooks: Beyond the Borders of Art, Narrative and Culture edited by Evelyn Arizpe, Maureen Farrell, and Julie McAdam. Review by Faye Dorcas Yung.
Children’s Literature, Popular Culture, and Robinson Crusoe by Andrew O'Malley. Review by Louise Joy.
C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia edited by Michelle Ann Abate and Lance Weldy. Review by Marek Oziewicz.
New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature: Utopian Transformations by Clare Bradford, Kerry Mallan, John Stephens, and Robyn McCallum. Review by Carol J. Singley.
Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Eine Einführung [Children’s and Youth Literature. An Introduction] by Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer. Review by Sara Van den Bossche.
Young Irelands: Studies in Children’s Literature edited by Mary Shine Thompson. Review by Sophia Klein.
The 'Evil Child' in Literature, Film and Popular Culture edited by Karen J. Renner. Review by Clémentine Beauvais.
Constructing Adolescence in Fantastic Realism by Alison Waller. Review by Olena Yarovana Lehtonen.
Children’s Literature and Capitalism: Fictions of Social Mobility in Britain, 1850-1914 by Christopher Parkes. Review by Louise Joy.
Ironian kääntäminen lasten- ja nuortenromaaneissa. Esimerkkinä Christine Nöstlingerin teokset Ein Mann für Mama ja Luki-live. [Translating irony in children’s and youth books: Christine Nöstlinger’s books Ein Mann für Mama and Luki-live as an example.] by Seija Haapakoski. Review by Melissa Garavini.
Crossover Picturebooks: A Genre for All Ages by Sandra Beckett. Review by Clémentine Beauvais.
Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World through Children’s Books edited by Linda M. Pavonetti. Review by Krista Varano.
Autobiografski diskurs djetinjstva. [Autobiographical Discourse of Childhood.] by Andrijana Kos Lajtman. Review by Marija Todorova.
Adopting America: Childhood, Kinship, and National Identity in Literature by Carol J. Singley. Review by Samantha Christensen.
Here Comes the Bogeyman: Exploring Contemporary Issues in Writing for Children by Andrew Melrose. Review by Linda K. McMillan.
Ironian kääntäminen lasten- ja nuortenromaaneissa. Esimerkkinä Christine Nöstlingerin teokset Ein Mann für Mama ja Luki-live. [Translating irony in children’s and youth books. Christine Nöstlinger’s books Ein Mann für Mama and Luki-live as an example. by Seija Haapakoski. Review by Sanna Lehtonen.
