Guest Author - Diane Claus
I bypassed the library and hit up the local Barnes and Nobel to look for books that would be great for preschoolers and would show that just because someone is different that they are worthy of respect as they are. I also tried to find books on inclusion and tolerance. I was shocked and dismayed! There was very little selection available and many were inappropriate for preschoolers.
I even tried a few old favorites but when I sat down and read them again I was shocked!
Many times the victim was portrayed as partly at fault or the solutions given were on the lines of an eye for an eye. I found nothing that I felt would be a good addition to a preschool library. I am going to talk about the books I found and that I recommend but first I am going to explain why I felt that a good portion of the books I found could actually do more damage then good.
Many of the solutions presented involved the victim learning to fight or outright being blamed for causing the teasing or bulling. There were also several books that passed the blame onto an unknown and often irrelevant character and held the aggressor faultless. The only message in those books was that people are not responsible for their own behavior.
A few common themes I found and recommend staying clear from are:
Blaming the victim
Eye for eye solutions
Changing who the victim is
No clear solutions
Shifting the blame from the aggressor to an unknown person or situation
Graphic descriptions of violence
Explanations that are not developmentally appropriate.
Mixed Messages
