by Tracy Briseño

My three children love to read. I am overjoyed that they love to read and I love to pick items out for them that will pique their interest. There are so many great and interesting titles that I rarely have any problems picking a wide selection.

There is a neat concept in literacy that talks about giving readers mirrors, windows, and sliding doors. Emily Style introduced the concept of mirrors and windows in 1988 and it was added to in 1990 by Rudine Sims Bishop to include sliding doors. The basic concept is giving readers books that reflect their experience (mirrors), that allow them to look into the world of someone different than them (windows), and that let them walk into a story and become part of a different world (sliding doors).

I have been energized over the past few years to be more intentional about the books I bring home. I still bring a large variety however, I’m now trying to be purposeful with peppering in titles that give my kiddos mirrors, windows, and sliding doors. I might pick a title that reflects my child’s entry into a new grade or type of experience. Sometimes, it is a title that speaks to a challenge they are facing. I have had great success in finding great titles by asking for help from the youth services librarians. I’ll share the topic or idea that I’m looking for and my kiddo’s grade or reading level and end up with truly outstanding examples that they can read or we can read together. Finding books that are mirrors helps my children to understand that other people go through the same situations and helps them to feel seen. Sometimes, it can help us to brainstorm solutions for tough challenges.

I first started out finding window books for my kids through the biography section. I adore biographies myself and love getting a chance to enter into someone else’s life and learn about what made them interesting and extraordinary. When my eldest became interested in biographies we rampaged through the youth biography section together reading about a variety of different people. We often learned about people that weren’t taught about in schools. We learned about people that didn’t look or talk like her or come from the same type of background that she did. I started to seek out books that would help her to understand better some of the history of our country and our world as well as some of the amazing people who are impacting the world today. I was excited to share these opportunities with her and focused on how I could educate her.

I noticed that a lot of the books that we were reading for fun didn’t share that same diversity of characters. The characters tended to be white, they tended to live in homes and communities that reflected what she experienced. I wanted to make sure that her just-for-fun reading material also showcased a diversity of experience so she could have opportunities to see kids who shared some characteristics like she did, older sibling perhaps, and also had some that she didn’t. I started being more purposeful in making sure that include books with a diversity of characters. I want them to have their community reflected in the books they read. I want them to have favorite characters who don’t necessarily look like them. I want to make sure that the books they are reading show a diversity of characters in a variety of situations. It is beneficial to them and can help to combat any biases they may be picking up in other areas of their lives.

This is a pretty passive way to combat biases and help make sure my kids are exposed to a variety of characters and people throughout history in their reading world. The next step comes in seeking out books that actively show diversity of experience and background and having conversations about what we read and what that means in the real world.

The Library has great resources available, including fantastic Library staff members to help you pick out interesting books for you and your kids.