Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

the opportunity to relate to and empathize with the real-world struggles of the kids in the book. For instance, Esteban works through having his father deported, and Amari works through being personally stereotyped because of his race. Readers will be engaged and will broaden their understanding of the many social issues that they face in their own personal lives. Overall, this is a profound story of adversity, individuality, friendship, and unity that motivates readers to be the type of friend that celebrates diversity and to say to those around them, “I will harbor you” (p. 34).

Reading Matters Literature Matters

The Day You Begin Woodson, Jacqueline. (2018). Illus. by Rafael López. Unpaged. Nancy Paulsen/Penguin. 978-0-399-24653-1. $18.99. (Primary). —Emily Brinson & Katie Colavecchia “There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you until the day you begin to share your stories.”Though we all struggle at different times

in our lives, this perceptive book tells a story of children finding strength through their similarities. Believing to be marked by their differences, Angelina and Rigoberto enter a new class in which they feel set apart from everyone else. When classmates share stories and mementos from summers spent traveling to different places and eating unfamiliar foods, Angelina finds that she has only memories of her summer spent at home. Rigoberto also feels distant from his classmates, leaving behind his home country but bringing an accent that they find unfamiliar. After listening to others and sharing their own stories, Angelina, Rigoberto, and the other students find an opportunity to discover their commonalities through their own unique qualities. Through the use of paint, pen, pencil, and watercolor, López carefully illustrates this meaningful story. The use of space in the middle pages of the story clearly depicts Rigoberto’s loneliness without directly stating his emotions in words. When the other students are happily playing and surrounded by bright flowers and leaves, Rigoberto stands alone in a gray field, or with a single bare tree. The character’s facial expressions are detailed, allowing readers a deeper understanding of the complex emotions conveyed in the book. The use of figurative language such as “sound like flowers blooming” and “the world opens itself up a little wider”may help younger readers to connect the words with the images on each page and give more experienced readers the opportunity to look beyond the text. This story invites readers to share their own experiences and learn about their diverse peers.  Dr. Jonda C. McNair is a professor of literacy education at Clemson University. She can be contacted at jmcnair@clemson.edu .

Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org | 55

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