Kathy G. Short page 9 Story as World Making

tories are woven so tightly into the fabric of critical thinking, writing models, historical events, our everyday lives that it’s easy to overlook mathematical concepts. Many teacher education Stheir significance in framing how we think programs have eliminated children’s literature as a about ourselves and the world. They fill every part separate course, choosing to integrate literature into of our daily lives as we talk about events and peo- a range of methods courses where the focus again ple, read books and news reports, gossip, send text is how to use literature to teach something else. messages, listen to music, watch video clips, and The many different forms in which stories are com- catch up on a favorite television show. We live sto- monly told and shared outside of schools are also ried lives. often not recognized or valued within classrooms. Stories are thus much more than a book or nar- If we step back from the pressure of tests and rative—they are the way our minds make sense standards and consider why story matters and the of our lives and world. We work at understanding ways in which story is thinking and world making, events and people by constructing stories to inter- we have time to reconsider and recapture the role pret what is occurring around us. In turn, these of story and literature in our classrooms. Focusing stories create our views of the world and the lens on story as world making also provides insights through which we construct meaning about our- into how the public story about schools and teach- selves and others. We also tell stories to make con- ers frames policies and provides an opportunity to nections, form relationships, and create community consider how we can participate in telling a differ- with others. ent story. These stories provide a way for us to move between local and global cultures and to explore But First, a Story . . . the ways in which people live and think in cultures The Story of Three Kingdoms (1995), written by that differ from our own. Whether these stories are Walter Dean Myers and illustrated by Ashley Bryan, directly shared with us by global members of our tells of a time long ago when the world was divided immediate community or through literature from into the three kingdoms of forest, sea, and sky, each people living in distant geographical places, they ruled by a creature so powerful that people lived in provide access to shared and unique experiences fear. Because the People did not have the strength and beliefs. We need more than facts to understand of Elephant, the ferocity of Shark, or the ability to the storied lives of people in diverse global cultures. fly like Hawk, they were forced to do their bidding. Despite the significant ways in which stories One day, Elephant fell into a deep pit in the frame our world views and identities, their role in ground and could not pull himself out. That night, making sense of life is often not recognized or val- as the People sat around the fire, one told a story ued. In schools, students are given access to stories about moving a large stone that stood where a primarily through literature, but the focus is not on group wanted to build a village. What one person the value of the stories themselves. Instead, litera- could not do alone, many people pulling together ture is used to teach something else—reading skills, were able to accomplish. They told the story over

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 10 and over and “the idea warmed in the minds of the move from the chaotic “stuff” of daily life into People and they knew it was good.” The next day, understanding. An endless flow of experiences sur- they were able to pull Elephant out of the hole with round us on a daily basis, and we invent beginnings vines, and he promised to share the forest with them and endings to organize our experiences by creating from that time on. a meaningful sequence of facts and interpretations. Sometime later, the People were suffering Stories impose order and coherence on that stream because Shark would not allow them to fish for of experiences and allow us to work out signifi- food. As they sat around the fire, a woman told a cance. Stories thus provide a means of structuring story about how her grandmother accidentally and reflecting on our experiences (Bruner, 1988). dropped a woven mat into a small stream. A lizard We tell our stories to others to invite them to con- swam into the weaving and was not able to escape. sider our meanings and to construct their own, as Again the People “warmed the idea carefully in well as to better understand those experiences our- their minds, and knew it was good.” And so the next selves. The story of the three kingdoms reminds us day, they wove a large net and dropped it into the that stories are what distinguish us from other liv- water to entangle Shark. He could not free himself ing beings—stories make us human. The nature of a and so finally promised to share the sea with them. life is that it’s a story. Hawk watched these events and taunted the Story is thus a mode of knowing—one of the People as he flew above them, certain that his king- primary ways in which we think and construct dom was the greatest. And even though the People meaning from our experiences. Story captures the trembled, they now knew what to do and so gath- richness and nuances of human life, accommodat- ered around the fire to tell stories. Finally, one ing the ambiguity and complexity of situations in told the story of a child trying to catch a butterfly. the multiplicity of meanings inherent to any story After many attempts, the child was able to do so by (Carter, 1993). Although traditionally thought is waiting until the butterfly came to rest. This story seen as an instrument of reason, there are forms of “warmed in the minds of the People and they knew thought that are narrative in nature rather than logi- the idea was good.” The next day, they waited until cal. Barbara Hardy (1968) believes that story is a Hawk came to rest on a branch of his favorite tree, primary act of mind, then they threw a loop of vines around his neck. [f]or we dream, remember, anticipate, hope, despair, When he was unable to free himself, Hawk agreed believe, doubt, plan, revise, criticize, construct, gossip, to share the air. learn, hate, and love by narrative. In order to really live, The People gathered to celebrate around the we make up stories about ourselves and others, about the personal as well as the social past and future. (p. 5) fire, telling stories about the events and chanting that they were now masters of the earth. As they Our views of the world are a web of intercon- told the stories, however, they realized that they did nected stories, a distillation of all the stories we not need to rule the earth. Their strength came from have shared. We connect to these interconnected the wisdom gained from telling stories. Instead of past stories in order to understand new experiences ruling the earth, they could use stories and wisdom (Rosen, 1986). This web of stories becomes our to share the earth. interpretive lens for new experiences so that story And from that day on, the People remembered is our means of constructing the world—of world to sit by the fire and tell stories, “never forgetting making. that in the stories could be found wisdom and in Rosen (1986) also points out that the distinc- wisdom, strength.” tion between expository text and narrative text and between theories and stories is an artificial one. He Story as Meaning Making argues that theories are just bigger stories. Scien- tists, for example, create a theory by using current Story is the way we make sense of the world. Har- information to tell a story that provides an explana- old Rosen (1986) argues that stories are a way to

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 11 tion of a natural phenomenon, such as black holes. are bringing to school from their families and com- They change their stories over time as new informa- munities. If the culture of the community is to enter tion and perspectives become available. A story is the culture of the school, that community’s stories thus a theory of something, what we tell and how must enter as a valued form of making meaning. we tell it reveals what we believe (Carter, 1993). Stories of the past are particularly significant in Story and Literature framing our thinking about the world. Milton Melt- as Life Making zer (1981), the author of many nonfiction history This broader context for story as meaning mak- books on social issues, argues that history is mem- ing provides a way to reexamine the significance ory, consisting of stories about our past that provide of story and literature within classrooms (Short, us with a sense of humanity. Without these stories of 2010). Descriptions of children’s literature in the past, we are nothing, adrift and unable to com- elementary classrooms typically focus on how to pare and contrast our current experiences with the use children’s books to teach something else. Lit- past in order to make sense of those experiences. We erature is viewed as a resource that is employed are locked in the current moment, deprived of mem- to teach reading, math, science, or social studies ory, and so blinded from understanding the pres- or as a means of teaching comprehension or writ- ent. Meltzer argues that governments in totalitarian ing strategies, celebrating cultural diversity, raising countries thus outlaw the collective memory. In our issues of social justice and society, we neglect it, and so fail to see ourselves as equity, and creating criti- The ways in which we create part of a larger continuum of life that stretches far cal consciousness. Stories and tell stories are culturally behind us and far ahead as well. We need stories of can also be a vehicle, as the past to locate ourselves and to envision a rea- in my case, for building based. Our human need to son to take action for social change to create a better intercultural understand- story our experiences may be world. Without the stories of the past, we are unable ings and global perspec- to see the possibility of change. tives. Even scholars who universal, but there is no one The ways in which we create and tell stories argue for the significance way to tell stories. are culturally based. Our human need to story our of reading aloud and pro- experiences may be universal, but there is no one viding an independent reading time for enjoyment way to tell stories (Bruchac, 2003). Our stories are do so from the perspective that these engagements always intertextualized and interwoven with the will help students become more proficient readers, stories that exist within our own cultures, both in rather than because reading literature adds signifi- content and in the style and structure of the telling. cance to a child’s life. All children come to school with stories, although What is often overlooked is that literature and the types of stories they are familiar with and the stories are a way of knowing the world. Educators ways in which they tell them may be quite different are so focused on using literature for other purposes from school norms. Shirley Brice Heath (1983), for that they lose sight of literature as having value in example, found that children coming from a par- and of itself. Literature illuminates what it means ticular African American community had learned to to be human and makes accessible the most fun- tell fanciful stories in order to get adult attention damental experiences of life—love, hope, loneli- and to aggressively push their way into conversa- ness, despair, fear, and belonging. Literature is tions. These children were viewed as rude and as the imaginative shaping of experience and thought telling “tall tales” at school, a misunderstanding of into the forms and structures of language. Louise the cultural context of their homes and stories by Rosenblatt (1938) argues that children read litera- teachers. The challenge for teachers is not to judge ture to experience life; they live inside the world of children by what they are lacking, but instead to the story to engage in inquiry that transforms their evaluate their strengths related to the stories they thinking about their lives and world. Stories can

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 12 take many forms, and the increasing variety of digi- nected racism to their own lives. For example, sev- tal and interactive formats invites a greater range of eral decided to do a survey of children in their school readers— surely a cause for celebration, not con- to find out how they chose their friends and whether cern, as these formats invite the active participation those friendships crossed racial lines. One particu- of readers in the worlds of story. larly powerful inquiry involved a boy for whom The decision about whether to read literature gang membership was a valued and accepted prac- to support students in learning content more effec- tice in his family. His previous focus had not been tively or to experience life is not an either/or oppo- on whether to join a gang, but on which gang to join, sition. Literature can encourage student interest in because he had uncles in opposing gangs. The stories certain topics and help them understand informa- of the Holocaust survivors led him to question gangs tion and issues. Literature can provide a vehicle for as he investigated the similarities and differences learning about written language and engaging in between gangs and the Nazis and Hitler Youth. curricular inquiries. At the same time, these experi- Literature expands children’s life spaces ences can occur within the context of literature as a through inquiries that take them outside the bound- way of knowing and critiquing the world. aries of their lives to other places, times, and ways Charlotte Huck (1982) often reminded us that of living, exposing them to alternative ways to live literature provides experiences that go beyond their lives and to think about the world. Kathryn entertainment or instruc- Tompkins (2007) read aloud to her fourth-grade Literature expands children’s tion by offering the poten- students When My Name Was Keoko (Park, 2002), tial to transform children’s a book about the Japanese occupation of Korea dur- life spaces through inquiries lives, connecting their ing World War II and the loss of freedom for Sun- that take them outside the hearts and their minds to hee and her family as they are forced to take on integrate reason and emo- Japanese names, language, culture, and history. The boundaries of their lives to other tion. Children find them- students connected powerfully with issues of free- places, times, and ways of living. selves reflected in stories dom and their own struggles with the limits imposed and make connections on them by parents and teachers, and they engaged that transform their understandings of themselves in a range of inquiries about this time period and and the world. Korean culture. Sun-hee’s story took them outside Literature was this kind of tool for children of their own cultural experiences and transformed in reenvisioning their lives in Leslie Kahn’s sixth- the ways in which they thought about freedom and grade classroom (Short & Harste, 1996). Gangs and their responses to limitations on freedom. racism were such a common part of their neighbor- Literature stretches children’s imaginations and hood that students accepted them without question. encourages them to go beyond “what is” to “what Leslie decided that looking at history to take a more might be.” Hope and imagination have made it pos- distant perspective on racism might support stu- sible for children to be resilient and to rise above dents in gaining new perspectives on their lives; as their circumstances, to challenge inequity and to a result, we developed an inquiry around the geno- envision social change. Jennifer Griffith read aloud cide and racism of the Holocaust. The students’ to her first-grade students You Be Me, I’ll Be You initial questions were disquieting, focusing on (Mandelbaum, 1990), the story of a biracial child methods of death, and so we immersed them in sto- who is concerned that she does not look like either ries. These stories included novels about Holocaust of her parents. Many of the children came from experiences, visits of several Holocaust survivors, multiracial Latino families, and their discussion and drama engagements around victims, bystand- facilitated their awareness that members of their ers, aggressors, and rescuers. family who had darker skin were treated differently The students’ final investigations reflected the in the community. Because they loved these fam- transformation in their perspectives as they con- ily members, they were deeply concerned and, for

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 13 the first time, found themselves questioning, rather in their own judgments while continuing to inquire than accepting, the way people are judged in our and remaining open to questioning their beliefs. society by the color of their skin. Paulo Freire (1970) argues that dialogue thus has These classroom stories provide examples of the most potential to support transformation and story as life making. Transformation occurs as chil- true revolution. dren carry their experiences and inquiries with liter- Dialogue around global literature is particularly ature and story back into their worlds and lives. This significant for world making. Many of our students potential for transformation is also available in read- gain their world knowledge through television, ing informational books that are written from the video games, and popular movies, many of which perspective of one enthusiast sharing with another to focus on catastrophe, terrorism, and war. Their “light fires” in children’s minds, rather than from the understandings are superficial and grounded in fear perspective of textbooks written to instruct. and stereotypes, leading to ethnocentricism, a lack of understanding about global cultures, and a stance Story as World Making of pity and superiority over the “poor and unfortu- Louise Rosenblatt (1938) argues that “literature nate” in the world. Global literature is an important makes comprehensible the myriad ways in which resource for challenging human beings meet the infinite possibilities that life these views and exploring Dialogue about literature interculturalism, because offers” (p. 6). They participate in another’s vision, provides a significant context transforming that vision as well as their own sense it provides an opportunity of possibility, because literature provides the oppor- for children to go beyond within which students learn a tourist perspective in tunity to “live through,” not just have “knowledge to live with the tension of about” life. This vision provides a way for students which they gain only sur- to imagine and live within and across global cul- face information about recognizing and respecting the another country. Through tures and relationships. perspectives of others without Reading literature and listening to stories immersing themselves encourage readers to put themselves in the place in story worlds, children betraying their beliefs. of others, to use imagination to consider the con- can gain insights into how sequences of their decisions and actions. Imagi- people feel, live, and think in global cultures. They nation and the balance of reason and emotion are come to see themselves as connected to children further developed when readers move from per- around the world through common humanity and, sonal response to dialogue with others, where at the same time, they come to value the differences they wrestle with their interpretations of literature. that make each culture unique. These discussions, therefore, are not just a better Books in and of themselves are not enough; way to learn, but essential to democracy. Rosen- how children engage with these books matters. blatt’s vision of democracy is equitable social rela- Children can read books from cultures that dif- tionships in which people choose to live together fer from their own and judge those cultures as by valuing individual voices within recognition of “strange” or “exotic,” feeling pity for the charac- responsibility to the group. She believes that peo- ters and gratitude that their society is so much more ple need to have conviction and enthusiasm about “advanced.” We can actually establish stereotypes their own cultural perspectives, while remaining by reading multicultural and global literature with open to alternative views and becoming aware of children and only focusing on difference. Fifth others’ needs. Dialogue about literature provides a graders in Amy Edwards’s class first responded significant context within which students learn to with pity and outrage to Iqbal (D’Adamo, 2001), live with the tension of recognizing and respecting the story of the Pakistani boy who led a movement the perspectives of others without betraying their against forced child labor in carpet mills. They felt beliefs. Through dialogue, students develop faith pity for the children being forced to work in such

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 14 difficult situations and outrage at parents who were that it matters who tells our stories and who sits at “selling” their children to work in the mills. They our dinner table, suggesting that intimacy of know- also developed misperceptions of Pakistan, believ- ing and relationship is essential to writing authenti- ing that all children in that country were forced into cally across cultural values and experiences. child labor (Edwards, 2008). We carefully provided Outsiders to a culture can tell an authentic story a broader context related to issues of human rights through relationships and research, but a world of and poverty in Pakistan and the broader world as stories dominated by outsider perspectives about a well as in their own community. Connections to particular culture is problematic and leads to mis- their rights as children and adult impositions and conceptions and the absence of significant perspec- limitations on those rights moved the children from tives (Fox & Short, 2003). Who defines us matters. pity to empathy and respect for Iqbal’s willingness It matters that literature featuring African American to take a stand for other children, not just for his characters and themes is now written by a range of own benefit. authors with many different experiences and per- Focusing on connections as well as differences spectives—both from within the African Ameri- across cultures challenged these students to shift can community and outside of it. It also matters their views of themselves and of children in another that literature about American Indians continues to part of the world. Just as overemphasizing differ- be dominated by outsider views (Horning, 2012). ence can lead to misconceptions, however, so can It matters that the stories we read and hear from overemphasizing connections. Discussions about global cultures are almost all traditional folklore or the values and needs that connect us as human historical fiction, with only occasional images of beings are significant, but can lead to colorblind- contemporary life, creating the misconception that ness and a focus on cultural harmony that erases the these cultures are frozen in time. differences that make us unique as human beings It matters that the majority of global literature and form our identities (Bolgatz, 2005). In discuss- read by American children is written and published ing books with fourth and fifth graders about racial by Americans and that only 2–3% are translated tensions in the United States, such as Freedom books written by insiders from those global cul- Summer (Wiles, 2001) and Sister Anne’s Hands tures. If our worldviews are indeed a web of inter- (Lorbiecki, 2000), Lisa Thomas and I noticed that connected stories, we need to be concerned that the they avoided issues of race with colorblind state- body of stories of diverse cultures, both within the ments, such as “It doesn’t matter what you look like US and around the world, can suffer from signifi- on the outside; it’s the inside that matters.” Their cant omissions and continue to be difficult to access. focus on common humanity was allowing them to avoid discussions about the role of skin color in cul- Stories as Professional Identity tural identity and as a source of discrimination and and Possibility racism (Thomas, 2007). In 1937, Ludwick Fleck (1981) argued that we form The types of stories we have available are thought collectives as we interact and talk with a another influence on story as world making. Story group of people over time to create a history and can constrain as well as open up our thinking. We language with each other. All of us know that when can become so ingrained in familiar ways of telling we gather within our thought collectives, we talk stories within our own cultures that we no longer story. As educators, we make sense of our classroom consider any other way of thinking feasible—our experiences by sharing stories in teacher lounges as way has become the norm against which all else well as in conference presentations, workshops, and is judged. Since our view of the world is a web of publications. By immersing ourselves in stories of interconnected stories, that worldview, along with practice, we are able to envision the possibilities of our biases and misconceptions, is also embedded those ideas in our own settings. into our stories. Jackie Woodson (2003) reminds us

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 15 We need classroom stories of the ways in of stories about their experiences with building which teachers are working to bring books and stu- intercultural understanding through global and mul- dents together to explore these complex issues of ticultural literature in elementary, secondary, and intercultural understanding. One source of these university classrooms. stories is WOW Stories, an online journal available USBBY, the US national section of the Inter- on Worlds of Words (wowlit.org), a website with a national Board of Books for Young People, along range of resources to encourage the use of litera- with many other national sections around the world, ture to build international understanding. This col- is another source of stories and resources related laborative effort, based at the University of Arizona to the use of literature as a bridge for international and involving teacher educators from across the US understanding. These resources can be found on and the world, also includes a searchable database, their website (www.usbby.org), including an annual an online journal of book reviews with a focus on list of Outstanding International Books that rec- cultural authenticity, and a weekly blog on current ognizes excellent children’s and adolescent books issues. WOW Stories publishes vignettes by educa- originally published in another country before tors and literacy communities that tell a wide range being published or distributed in the US.

STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN WORLD MAKING

After selecting texts rich with possibilities for opening up global world-making discussion, how can we best help students open up and share their meanings with one another? Taken from the University of Arizona’s Worlds of Words (wowlit.org), the following strategies can help facilitate these discussions:

• Save the Last Word for Me—Ask students to choose two or three pictures or small pieces of text that caught their attention and record them on notecards or mark them with sticky notes. Then, in small groups, each student will read or show the chosen text, listen as others respond, and then share the reason he/she selected that text as significant. • Sketch to Stretch—After reading a text or portion of text, ask students to sketch the meaning of the text. Rather than having students draw exactly what happened in the text, encourage them to use color and shape to represent the text’s meaning for them. To share their illustrations, students can use the “Save the Last Word for Me” procedures. • Consensus Board—Using large paper, create a consensus board like the one below. Students write their own reactions to the text on one of the quadrants. As a group, they reach a consensus about one or two tensions or questions that remain and write it in the center to discuss in a future meeting.

For more on these and other strategies, see wowlit.org, especially Kathy Short’s language and culture book kits (2012) at http://wowlit.org/links/language-and-culture-resource-kits.

Tara Campbell, reading teacher, Fairplay Middle School, Douglasville, Georgia

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 16 Story has also determined how we are viewed and public libraries are being closed or working as teachers, teacher educators, and researchers. The with reduced hours, fewer certified librarians, and public story about education in schools and univer- restricted purchases of books. Even in innovative sities has been unrelentingly negative. For years, literacy instruction, we are so busy teaching com- our position has been to close our classroom doors prehension strategies, units of study, and mentor- and teach, but that allows others to tell the stories ing with texts that we are in danger of losing sight that define our lives, and we are excluded from that of the value of reading to immerse ourselves in the storytelling. Many of us have complained about world of the story simply for the sake of what that how public policies and mandates ignore research story adds to our lives. Instead, we stand on top of and the knowledge base we have built in education, the story and send down probes to mine the richness embracing instead what politicians view as “com- for other purposes. mon sense.” Their programs and solutions often Although there is a great deal of merit in these make better stories because while we understand approaches to literacy and the ways in which real the complexity of learning and teaching, they gener- books are used to think about reading and writing, ate simple stories that make good sound bites. The an emphasis on teaching with every book that is simple story wins out, and we fail to tell our story. read aloud by the teacher or read by a child vio- This situation is changing through initiatives such lates story as life making. Stories are supposed to as Save Our Schools, but the necessity of teaching provide us with shattering, hopeful encounters that the public and ourselves to tell a different story is allow us to experience deep emotions and make us only increasing. richer, more compassionate human beings. They We need to teach the public to re-author their can’t do that when they are always being used to stories of school, and that’s a huge task because teach something else, no matter how important that negative habits of mind are deeply embedded in our something else is. consciousness and society. Jerome Bruner (1988) explored life as narrative and noticed that mem- Stories as democracy bers of the same family would tell about the same of the Intellect events but in completely different ways; some only Katherine Paterson (2000) argues that books had memories of problem-filled experiences and and stories provide the basis for the democracy had filtered out everything else, taking away hope of the intellect, a term she borrowed from Jacob and capability. He pointed out that the ways we tell Bronowski (1974). When people can read freely stories are so habitual that they become recipes for and widely and engage in dialogue with others structuring experience itself. Bruner argued that our about that reading, they begin to think and question, identities are a story subject to revision and that we something not necessarily valued by politicians and sometimes need to re-author our stories and lives. those in control. Public policies and laws that close We need to claim this same re-authoring for stories libraries, limit the availability of books, impose nar- of school. row definitions of literacy and research, and dictate We live in a world where stories are used against what happens in classrooms are a response by those us as educators while, at the same time, our own in power to what they see as the threat posed by the stories are no longer valued or welcomed. Qualita- democracy of the intellect. tive research, which is based in stories constructed We don’t need stories; they are a frill, unless we around data, is not considered rigorous, replicable, believe passionately in the democracy of the intel- or reliable for making decisions or establishing lect and in providing the time that children need to policies. Textbooks, basal readers, and facts are gain the experiences necessary to make wise deci- again replacing books and taking away the time for sions and develop freedom of imagination. A true experiences around books from which children can democracy of the intellect breaks open the narrow- construct significant memories and stories. School ness of the spirit and challenges the selfish interests

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012 Kathy G. Short | Story as World Making page 17 of the privileged few. This democracy of the intel- Horning, K. (2012). Thoughts on publishing in 2011. lect supports us in critiquing society, in questioning CCBC Choices 2012. Madison, WI: CCBC. Retrieved what is and who benefits, and in considering what from http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/ choiceintro12.asp. might be in order to take action and work toward a Huck, C. (1982). “I give you the end of a golden string.” more just and equitable world (Freire, 1970). Theory into Practice, 21, 315–321. Stories summon us to wisdom, strength, and Lorbiecki, L. (2000). Sister Anne’s hands. New York, NY: delight and make the richness of imagination avail- Puffin. able to all of us in order to envision a better world Mandelbaum, P. (1990). You be me, I’ll be you. La Jolla, and to take action that makes a difference. Stories CA: Kane/Miller. have the power to direct and change our lives and Meltzer, M. (1981). Beyond the span of a single life. In world—if we provide the time and space necessary B. Hearne (Ed.), Celebrating children’s books (pp. for their role in meaning making, life making, and 87–96). New York, NY: Lothrop. world making. Myers, W. D. (1995). The story of three kingdoms. New York, NY: HarperCollins. references Park, L. S. (2002). When my name was Keoko. New York, NY: Clarion. Bolgatz, J. (2005). Talking race in the classroom. New Paterson, K. (2000). Asking the question. The New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Advocate, 13, 1–15. Bronowski, J. (1974). The ascent of man. Boston, MA: Rosen, H. (1986). Stories and meanings. London, UK: Little Brown. NATE. Bruchac, J. (2003). Our stories remember. Golden, CO: Rosenblatt, L. (1938). Literature as exploration. Chicago, Fulcrum. IL: Modern Language Association. Bruner, J. (1988). Research currents: Life as narrative. Short, K. (2010). Reading literature in elementary Language Arts, 65, 574–583. classrooms. In S.Wolf, K. Coats, P. Enciso, & Carter, K. (1993). The place of story in the study of C. Jenkins (Eds.), Handbook of research on children’s teaching and teacher education. Educational and young adult literature (pp. 48–62). New York, NY: Researcher, 22(1), 5–12. Routledge. D’Adamo, F. (2001). Iqbal. New York, NY: Aladdin. Short, K., & Harste, J. (with Burke, C.). (1996). Creating Edwards, A. (2008). Re-visioning the world through classrooms for authors and inquirers. Portsmouth, multiple perspectives. WOW Stories: Connections NH: Heinemann. from the Classrooms, 1(1). Retrieved January 15, 2012 Thomas, L. (2007). When literature discussion seems to from http://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/ go nowhere: Revaluing teaching and learning. WOW storiesi2/15. Stories: Connections from the Classrooms, 1(1). Fleck, L. (1981). Genesis and development of a scientific Retrieved from http://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/ fact. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. stories/storiesi1/12/. (Original work published 1937) Tompkins, K. (2007). Creating lifelong relationships: Fox, D., & Short, K. (2003). Stories matter: The complexity Children’s connections to characters. WOW Stories: of cultural authenticity in children’s literature. Connections from the Classrooms, 1(1). Retrieved Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. from http://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/ Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, storiesi1/6/. NY: Herder & Herder. Wiles, D. (2001). Freedom summer. New York, NY: Hardy, B. (1968). Towards a poetics of fiction: An approach Atheneum. through narrative. Novel: A Forum on Fiction, 2(1), Woodson, J. (2003). Who can tell my story? In Fox, D. 5–14. & Short, K. (Eds), Stories matter: The complexity Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and of cultural authenticity in children’s literature (pp. work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge, 41–45). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of MA: Cambridge University Press. English.

Kathy G. Short is a professor of language, reading, and culture at the University of Arizona.

Language Arts, Volume 90 Number 1, September 2012