Article: "Celebrating Diversity Through Explorations of Arab Children's Literature"

Celebrating Diversity Through Explorations of Arab Children's Literature Tami Al-Hazza, Bob Lucking. Childhood Education. Olney:Spring 2007. Vol. 83, Iss. 3, p. 132-135 (4 pp.)

The scholarly article that I chose to inform my book choices is called “Celebrating Diversity Through Explorations of Arab Children’s Literature” and it is written by Tami Al-Hazza and Bob Lucking. The article begins by informing the reader on facts about Arab Americans that are commonly unknown. For example, a common stereotype of Arab Americans is that they are uneducated, when the reality is that percentage wise, more Arab Americans hold degrees than Americans do. The article also clears up some common misconceptions such as how the words “Arab” and “Muslim” are not interchangeable. It also talks about how Arab Americans, especially since the September 11th attacks, have been stereotyped and portrayed as villains in the media. These were all good facts and stereotypes to be mentioned in my opinion. However, one thing that I did not like about this article was the following: “Arab communities also contain significant populations of Copts, Melokies, Christians, Jews, Druze, and Maronites, this diversity of faith is due, in part, to the fact that the majority of Arab countries place no restrictions on freedom of worship” (Al-Hazza, Lucking, 132). This is not necessarily wrong, but I find it very misleading. I feel that when one reads these sentences they could form the belief that the listed religions are different when in fact some of them do not hold different beliefs. Someone who is Maronite or Melokite is Christian. The Catholic Church (which is Christian) has 7 rites to it, and two of these rites are Maronite and Melokite. Someone who is an Egyptian Copt is also a Christian. I felt that the way this sentence was worded, made it seem like Maronite, Melokite and Copt was different from Christian because Jews and Druze are not Christian, and are included on this list. Most Melokites come from either Syria or Lebanon, and most Maronites come from Lebanon, but they are both Christian/Catholic. Druze is not Muslim or Christian, but the beliefs are close to that of someone who practices Islam. Many Druze reside in the mountains of Lebanon, bordering Syria and Israel. There was a course-pack reading assigned by these two authors in the semester, and it had this same misleading comment as well. The article goes on to say that the stereotypical view of Arabs stems much from a lack of perspective told from Arab people. It suggests that one way to change this is through Arab children’s literature, which can promote acceptance.
The article then goes on to tell about traditional, contemporary and historical Arab literature and the good books that are out there on these topics. It lists numerous books that portray Arabs as generous, respecting, family oriented, and accepting people. Arabian tales/fairy tales are also suggested as a good resource to share with students in the classroom as they can broaden children’s cultural horizons. Some suggested books in the article include Sitti and the Cats, Noble Prince of Islam, A Peddler’s Dream and Ahmed’s Secrets. The article also tells of how it is important, yet challenging to pick good Arab literature and that both the author’s and the illustrator’s credentials must be examined. Something that they say is important to look for is the relationship between the characters. Also, stereotypes should not be reinforced through text or illustrations such as women always having they head’s covered with a scarf.
Towards the end of the article, the authors make this statement: “Teachers who show respect for ethnic and cultural pluralism are more likely to have students who are similarly inclined” (Al-Hazza, Lucking, 135). Regardless of the topic, I think that as a future teacher, this is something that I will always/and should always remember.