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I really like how she is trying to solve the problem with the disparity of children’s books. She wants the world to be okay with same sex parents and for them to be able to read their children books that support these views so that they will be sympathetic and empathetic classmates. She is using real families as her models for these books because they are out there, but are barely represented within popular literature for children. This country is a melting pot of diversity. Families come in all kinds and should be represented as such. This text is also about her daughter because so much of the book applies to things that she has experienced in her young life.

[…] Click the play button (below) to hear our Just One More Book discussion, pop over to the CLIP Podcast to hear the story unpacked from the critical literacy perspective, and then share your thoughts on the subject by posting comments on either of our sites (or both). […]

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Students so need to develop alternate ways of responding to literature. They should ideally be able to find multiple and conflicting versions of every story. The different ways of students interpreting literature is what is interesting. In the book example used in this clip the main character doesn’t know what aspects of life he is missing out on until someone points them out to him.

Vivian,

This show left me feeling sad. The thought that anyone, let alone an educator, would believe that children were too young to be introduced to the idea of non-traditional families is so hard for me to believe or understand and it is just such a disheartening reflection on whichever society you were talking about (maybe even my own society — I guess I’ve never asked…).

It seems to me that the only way a child might be confused about the idea of two women having a family or two men having a family would be if the child understood the mechanics behind reproduction. But something tells me that a 3 or 5 year old that is “too young” to be introduced to the ideas of same-sex couples or non-traditional families is going to have a good long wait til they discover they weren’t grown in a cabbage patch.

On a lighter note, I can’t imagine that you haven’t seen this Rick Mercer skit, but if you haven’t you’re in for a treat. It’s not super high tech so you have to choose your video player before viewing it and I can’t send you the exact link so you have to search for and click on “I Believe in a Traditional Family”

http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/backissues.html

Thanks for another great episode of CLIP,
Andrea

I can’t help adding this link too, since I just stumbled across it:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1586322,00.html

“Proponents of same-sex marriage have introduced a ballot measure that would require heterosexual couples to have a child within three years or have their marriages annulled….”

Ha!
Andrea

Hi Andrea,

Thank you for you very thoughtful comments! I too am saddened to think of lack of access to issues and topics such as non-traditional families. We’ve come a long way but we clearly still have a long way to go. I think this is why it’s especially important for us to do what we can to support the work of such people as Heather J.

The Mercer Report video is very funny and really gets at the ridiculousness regarding non-traditional families that we often hear about. The Time article does the same work. Very clever. How do you find these texts? Awesome stuff.

Thanks so much Andrea!

vivian

Hey Andrea and Mark! Wow - you guys were having quite the debate about whether the doodles in The Not-So-Only Child were, in fact, done by a child. They were. They were done by MY child Rissa, who is acknowledged on the bibliography page but not on the front cover or title page. She was between the ages of 5 and 6 when she did all the doodles. Some of them were done in a style that she learned from a great book by Usborne called I Can Draw People which introduces children to the concepts of amalgamating shapes to create drawings that a little more complex than stick figures. I highly recommend both that book as well as I Can Draw Animals by Usborne.

Aaaahh! Mark puts me to shame once again!

Now that you mention it, I should have noticed the similarity between ther ballerina and the Usborne one!

Thanks for clearing this up — and for the great book!

Andrea

Such a powerful book that really gets at important social issues in a meaningful and respectful way.

Thanks to JOMB, I was able to chat with Heather Jopling after hearing about her from Andrea and Mark. That conversation will air next week on CLIP.

By the way Bayla and Lucy did such a fantastic job on CLIP 26!!!

Thanks Andrea and Mark
vivian

www.clippodcast.com

[…] 23. Mark (Children of Men)24. Kelly (The Thirteenth Tale)25. Just One More Book! Podcast (The Not-So-Only Child)26. Julie (In This House of Brede)27. Kimba (Peace Like a River)28. Elliot (The Revolt)29. Julie D.30. Carl V. (Moonraker) […]

[…] If you’d like to hear more about Heather’s books have a listen at JOMB where Andrea and Mark have a great discussion about The Not-So-Only Child. […]

W00T!! I’m the first to leave a comment for this episode! Great song and thanks for the mention.

Charles

You are welcome Charles! More to come next week!

Hi vivian,

Thanks for the thanks! As always, loved the music and can’t wait for more to come.

LOL.. That’s funny Carol!
vivian