their awareness of differences and to develop their...

Winter 2009 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 37, Number 1 23

Children notice physical characteristics of others and develop attitudes toward human diversityat a very young age. High-quality children’s literature is a helpful springboard to encouragetheir awareness of differences and to develop their appreciation of uniqueness.

Several children are playing in the dramatic play corner, trying on the new collection of interesting hatsand looking at each other in the large mirror. Four-year-old David says to Heejeong (who is Korean), "You havefunny eyes."

Sophia and Tim join in, asserting, "Yeah, you lookfunny. You're Chinese." Sophia, Tim, and David giggleand make squinted-eye faces.

Ms. Shelton, who has witnessed this exchange, is feeling awkward, uncomfortable, and concerned. Shesays to the three laughing children, "That is mean. Youwill make her sad. You three may not play with the hats anymore." To Heejeong she says, "You can play with thehats, honey, because you are a nice girl."

* * *A group of 3-year-old girls is gathered at the sandbox

toward the end of the day. Isabel is biracial, Serena is Hispanic, and Millie is white. Isabel's mother (who is African American) briefly stops by the sandbox to say "hi" before going inside to retrieve Isabel's belongings. As she walks away from the sandbox, Isabel's mom overhears one of the girls ask, "Why is yourmom's hair always all wrinkled?"

* * *Red-haired, freckled Thomas' grandmother slathers

him with sunblock before leaving him on the playground at his Head Start program. His African-American classmate Dante comments, "You gotta have alot of that...you're white."

Thomas scowls with exasperation, "Am not. I'mbeige. With dots."

Dante laughs, shaking his head, "Man, you are white,white, white."

As Thomas stomps past Dante and a teacher, he mutters, "Man, don't he have eyes?"

Young Children Are CuriousAbout Diversity

In each of these three scenarios, a young child hasnoticed and commented upon an observable, physicalhuman difference related to race and/or geographicalorigin. Children start to notice these differences at anearly age. Babies as young as 6 months old begin tonotice variations in skin color. By age 2, children beginto ask questions about physical differences in others. Byage 9, children's attitudes toward diversity are solidified

Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes, Cornrows, and Curls: Building on Books toExplore Physical Diversity WithPreschool Children

Kristen M. Kemple and Maria Lopez

Kristen M. Kemple, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, EarlyChildhood Education, School of Teaching and Learning,University of Florida, Gainesville. Her writing and researchfocus on the social aspects of early childhood education. Asa teacher educator and former Head Start teacher, she hasworked with diverse children and parents.

Maria Lopez, M.Ed., is a teacher and administrator inMiami, Florida, where she works with culturally diversechildren and families.

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24 Volume 37, Number 1 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Winter 2009

and generally do not change unlessaltered by significant events (Wham,Barnhart, & Cook, 1996).

It is really not surprising that chil-dren notice physical differencesamong people very early in theirlives. Physical variations such as skin color, hair color, and hair texture (curly, straight, fuzzy) areobservable and tangible. They arehard not to notice!

Young children see that dogs andcats have tails and four legs, but are different in other ways. Theynotice at an early age that the thingsadults call flowers actually come inmany shapes and colors. Just asyoung children notice that humanscome in a range of sizes (babies, chil-dren, adults), they see that peoplecomein different shapes and colors as well. Often, the characteristic that children are quickest to recognize isskin color. This certainly makessense...skin is the biggest observablepart of people!

During the early years, childrenlearn and grow at a rapid rate. One of many important areas ofdevelopment during these years isa sense of self. In early childhood, the development of a positive self-identity is closely related to how achild feels about his or her physicalcharacteristics (Wardle, 1992).

In the preschool years, the observ-able physical self is an importantcomponent of children's emergingknowledge of self and of others. Children's early awareness of self is based on their own activities and the results of those activities (I can build a tower. I can knock it down. I can make things happen!)as well as on awareness of physical categories and gradations of self such as size, gender, hair color, andskin color.

Later in childhood, characteristicssuch as likes, dislikes, and personalitytraits become increasingly importantcomponents of children's knowledgeof self and others as well. In thepreschool years, however, these lesstangible aspects of self are harder for children to think about and consider. When describing themselvesand others, young children tend to focus on the concrete and the

observable: On characteristics that can be seen and touched (Damon &Hart, 1988).

Respond to Curiosityand Promote Respect

Early experiences can help chil-dren develop positive attitudes toward persons of different racialgroups (Fry, 1994). Caring adults

Subjects & Predicates

It is really not surprising that children notice such physical differences among peoplevery early in their lives. Physical differences such as skin color, hair color, and hair texture (curly, straight, fuzzy) are observable and tangible. They are hard not to notice!

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can sensitively respond to children's natural curiosity about the differencesthey observe among people. Adultscan help children explore their ideas,curiosity, and feelings about physicaldifferences such as skin color, hair tex-ture, and facial structure.

Guided opportunities to sortthrough ideas and feelings can help protect children from racist atti-tudes that can endanger their self-concept and/or lead them toreject those who are different fromthemselves. A proactive, anti-biasapproach (Derman-Sparks and theA.B.C. Task Force, 1990) can promotethe development of positive self-concept and comfort in interactingwith a wide range of people. Anapproach based not on color-blinddenial, but rather on color-filled celebration, acknowledges that physicaldifferences do exist, and they are fineand natural.

Reconsider the three scenariosdescribed at the beginning of this article. In each of these situations,how might a skilled teacher respond inan open, supportive, way? How mightthe adult acknowledge children's natural curiosity, and facilitate positiveattitudes toward human diversity?

In the first case, for example, amore helpful response may havebeen, "Heejeong's eyes look differentfrom yours, don't they, David? Shehas beautiful sloped brown eyes. Youhave beautiful large blue eyes. Howabout Sophia's eyes? Look in the mirror, Sophia...you have two eyesalso! How do your eyes look?"

Because young children focus onthe concrete and the observable, andbecause they are engaged in the all-consuming work of making senseof their world, children commentupon and ask questions about thosedifferences. Their healthy curiosityand questions cannot be ignored.

Children use their inquiries to helpthem sort out who they are, and howthey are the same as and differentfrom other people (Pulido-Tobiassen& Gonzalez-Mena, 1999).

Taking an activist approach toteaching respect for diversity meansthat adults intentionally encourage

children to talk about their curiosity,rather than taking a passive, colorblinddenial stance. A proactive color-filledcelebration approach seeks to

• enable children to developease with, and respect for,physical differences

A proactive color-filled celebration approach seeks to

• enable children to develop ease with, and respect for, physical differences

• help children become aware of the shared common physical characteristics that make everyone human beings

• enable children to feel pride, but not superiority, about their racialidentity

• provide children with accurate, developmentally appropriate information (Derman-Sparks, 1990)


Guided opportunities to sort through ideas and feelings can help protect children fromracist attitudes that can endanger their self-concept and/or lead them to reject those whoare different from themselves.


• help children become awareof the shared common physi-cal characteristics that makeeveryone human beings

• enable children to feel pride,but not superiority, abouttheir racial identity

• provide children with accurate,developmentally appropriateinformation (Derman-Sparks,1990).

Tools to Support Children's Respect for Diversity

In preschool classrooms, read-aloudchildren’s literature that focuses onphysical and racial diversity can stimulate exploration of differences inphysical appearance. Good books arean engaging point of departure. Theycan be used as a springboard fromwhich to launch conversation and further learning experiences to supportchildren as they notice, make sense of,and come to accept and celebrate theways in which people are both different and alike. Children’s bookscan be an important avenue for shaping how children perceive otherswho are different from themselves, aswell as how they view themselves(Bainbridge, Panteleo, & Ellis, 1999;Lee & Johnson, 2000; Mendoza &Reese, 2001; Strasser, 2001).

The books for young children presented here raise up for consider-ation, in a very active and directway, human physical differenceswhich are associated with raceand/or geographical origin includ-ing hair color and texture, skincolor, and facial structures. Thesebooks met the following criteria:

• developmentally appropriatefor reading to groups of 3- to5-year-old children

• representative of racially diversechildren

• photography or illustrationsthat suggest children's indi-viduality

• text that supports respect forhuman differences

Several other good books depict a variety of physical differences while at the same time carrying a strong message of human commonality. A few "centerpiece books" are high-lighted here as excellent examples of the four categories of facial fea-tures, hair color and texture, skincolor, and human commonalities.For each of these highlighted books,a variety of learning extensions aresuggested. These explorations areintended to spur teachers' own ideasfor building meaningful learning

opportunities based on the book'stext and illustrations.

Following these examples is anannotated bibliography of additionalhigh-quality books on this topic(Table 1).

Facial FeaturesCenterpiece bookIntrater, R.G. (1995). Two eyes, anose, and a mouth. New York:Scholastic. Illustrations by R.G.Intrater.

This book begins, "Two eyes, a noseand a mouth, they're the first thingsthat we see on millions and millions offaces, from Tibet to Tennessee" (p. 1).This visually delightful book goes on todescribe facial features captured inclose-up photographs of adults and



Good children’s literature that is focused on physical and racial diversity can be used asa springboard from which to launch conversation and further learning experiences tosupport children as they notice, make sense of, and come to accept and celebrate theways in which people are both different and alike.



Table 1. More good books about physical aspects of diversity

Adoff, Arnold. (1973). Black is brown is tan. New York:HarperCollins. Illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully. Thepoetic imagery of this classic book expresses the daily life of amixed-race family: "This is the way it is for us, this is the waywe are" (p. 3). Adoff speaks directly to a young child's concrete sensibilities... "i am white the milk is white i am not the color ofthe milk" (p. 11).

Cisneros, Sandra. (1994). Hairs—Pelitos. New York:Knopf. Illustrations by Terry Ybanez. Ybanez' eye-catchingillustrations employ large spaces of bold color in this simplebilingual book written in Spanish and English. The text and illustrations describe, from a young child's perspective, thediverse texture, color (and even smell) of family members'hair (Mama's hair "is the warm smell of bread before youbake it"/"es el olor tibro a pan antes de hornearlo") (p. 7).

Davol, Marguerite. (1993).Black, white, just right. NewYork: Whitman. Illustrationsby Irene Trivas. In this upbeatbook, a child describes the dif-ferent appearances, habits,preferences, and interests ofthe members of her mixed-race family, noting at the end ofeach page that each is "justright."

Fox, Mem. (1997). Whoev-er you are. New York: Harcourt, Brace. Illustratedby Leslie Staub. Richly colored, bold primitive-style oilpaintings depict children andfamilies from around theworld. Although the intensehues of the illustrations varyfrom page to page, the sky color is identical from picture topicture and place to place. This book carries the theme ofhow people are different yet basically the same, and remindsreaders that "joy is the same and love is the same, pain is thesame and blood is the same" (pp. 22-23).

Hooks, Bell. (1999). Happy to be nappy. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion. Illustrated by ChrisRaschka. An ode to the versatility of nappy hair, Happy To BeNappy is filled with simple watercolor renderings of girls invarious shades of brown. The representations of hair are notmeant to be realistic, but the artistic style in which they arecreated (strokes, squiggles, and curls of black over wet colorwash) is intriguing. With a little adult guidance, children cantry this experimental painting process. Raschka's hair strokesbleed out into the wet paper, creating fuzzy, nappy, interest-ing effects.

Hooks, Bell. (2004). Skin again. New York: Jump at theSun/Hyperion. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. In bold cartoon illustrations, children of different colors are shown onthe "outside" and then explored on the "inside." The message is that while skin is the wrapping, "if you want toknow who I am, you've got to come inside" (p. 4).

Kissinger, Katie. (1994). All the colors we are: The storyof how we get our skin color/Todos los colores de nuetrapiel. MN: Redleaf Press. Photographs by Werhner Krutein.Simple explanations (in both English and Spanish) of the threeways people get their skin color: From ancestors, the sun, andmelanin in the skin. While the full explanation is beyond thegrasp of most 3- to 5-year-olds, this book can help them beginto form a rudimentary understanding of the origins of skincolor. Includes information for adults and developmentallyappropriate learning experiences to accompany the book.

Pinkney, Sandra. L.(2000). Shades of black: A celebration of our children.New York: Scholastic. Pho-tographs by Myles C.Pinkney. "I am Black. I amunique" (p. 2). While all thechildren pictured anddescribed in this book areconsidered to be black, they represent a very widespectrum of shades of brownskin. Hair color, hair texture, and eye color aredescribed in evocative andchallenging language suchas "the shimmering glow of ebony in an onyx" (p. 22).Myles Pinkney's photogra-phy showcases individual

children's spirits in uniquely beautiful and natural facialexpressions.

Pinkney, Sandra L. (2002). A rainbow all around me.New York: Scholastic. Photography by Myles C. Pinkney.With the exception of the repeated refrain (“Colors are you. Colors are me.” [pp. 10, 18, 26]), the text ofthis book describes the bright colors of the rainbow. MylesPinkney's compelling close-up photography, however, celebrates a wide diversity of children of different ethnic origins. The book closes with, "Colors colors they're in everything I see. We are in the rainbow—you and me!" (p. 32).

Thomas, Pat. (2003). The skin I'm in: A first look at racism. New York: Barrons Education Series. Illustrated by Lesley Harker. Written by a counselor and psychotherapist, this book is designed to spark and encour-age conversation—among families, children, and teachers—about skin color and other observable racial differences.




children of various racial and ethnicbackgrounds. Readers are encouraged to "imagine how dull the worldwould be if everyone looked like youor me" (p. 15).

Extended learning possibilitiesAren't we beautiful! Take a close-

up photograph (face only) of eachchild in the class. Encourage childrento describe their own photographs,and with the help of a volunteer, writedown the words children dictate. Postphotos, names, and self-descriptionson a bulletin board or poster titled"Two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Aren'twe beautiful!" This is a good begin-ning-of-the-year experience to helpchildren learn one another's names,feel a part of the class, and celebratetheir differences and commonalities.

Feature graphing. Help childrenrecognize the different eye shapes,eye colors, facial shapes, or othercharacteristics represented within theclass. Create a wall graph to showhow many children have blue eyes,green eyes, almond-shaped eyes, aheart-shaped or oval face, and otherfeatures. Use the graph to help children solve simple math problems,such as figuring out more than andfewer than: Are there more childrenin the class with blue eyes or withbrown eyes? Are there more childrenin the class with brown eyes or with"not-brown" eyes?

Baby faces. The video "BabyMugs" (MVP, 1994) is a delightfulcelebration of babies and their manyshapes and colors. This video has nowords…only a soothing musicalbackground and footage of individualbabies mugging for the camera.Preschoolers are captivated by babiesand baby faces, and will probablyoffer spontaneous comments aboutthe babies they see. Viewing thevideo could be combined with the

"aren't we beautiful" ideas by havingchildren bring in and self-describetheir own baby pictures, which couldbe added to the bulletin board.

Hair color and textureCenterpiece book Hamanaka, S. (1994). All the colorsof the Earth. New York: Morrow.Illustrations by S. Hamanaka.

Through verse and soft, light-filled oil paintings, this book cele-brates outward physical differences ofhair color and texture and skin color,while suggesting the basic ways inwhich children everywhere are similar in needing and deservinglove. "Children come in all the colorsof love, in endless shades of you andme" (pp. 17-18).

Extended learning possibilitiesLike silk, sunlight, and chest-

nuts. Hair is described in this bookthrough comparison to elements ofnature: Hair like flowing water, likecurled sleeping cats, in colors of thelate summer grasses and fallen leaves.On an outdoor walk or visit to a natural area, encourage children tolook for things in nature that are sim-ilar to their hair. Upon return to theclassroom, children record their discoveries with writing, drawing,collages, sculpture, and/or dictation.

Class rainbow. Using a combina-tion of multicultural and regularcrayons, markers, or paints, encouragechildren to select or mix a color thatmatches their own hair color. Children can use their individuallyselected color to create a "stripe" on aclass rainbow bulletin board. Thiscould also be done for skin color.

Combine this learning experiencewith the silk, sunlight, and chestnutsexplorations by writing children'sdescriptions along the stripe of therainbow, for example, "Marsha has

hair the color of chestnuts." "Carl hashair like autumn leaves."

Grouping and sequencing. Chal-lenge children to sort themselves inorder from lightest to darkest hair (orvice-versa). Children can also bechallenged to organize themselvesinto hair-type groups: Curly, straight,wavy, long, medium-length, short,and other descriptors. If there is sufficient diversity, children mayeven be able to create simple "peoplepatterns" such as: Straight, straight,curly. Straight, straight, curly.

Skin colorCenterpiece bookKatz, K. (1999). The colors of us.New York: Henry Holt. Illustra-tions by K. Katz.

Lena's mom, an artist, is teachingher to mix colors. On a neighbor-hood walk, they notice the differentshades of brown reflected in the skinof the friends they meet...cinnamon,ginger, peanut butter, chocolate,peach, honey, bronze, chili powder,coffee, toffee. Lena uses her newfounddiscoveries to create a collection ofportraits done in "the colors of us.”

Extended learning possibilities"Me" puppets. Children create

their own persona puppets by choos-ing from an array of craft materials. Using sturdy tag board orcardboard, adults can precut facialshapes or full-body "gingerbreadperson" forms.

Children glue a form to a craftstick as a handle, select or mix mul-ticultural paint colors to color theskin of their puppets, and add hair.

Intentionally encouragechildren to talk about

their curiosity.



Possible materials to include in the“hair” selection are embroidery flossin various shades, curling ribbon,yarn, and string. Colorful chenillestems can be twisted into a wide variety of waves, curls, and kinks—or used straight for spikes.

Completed puppets can be used as props that children use to tell about themselves. Persona puppetscan become part of a classroom pup-petry center and provide an avenue for children to re-enact real-life classroom"dramas.” With teacher support andguidance, this may lead to use of puppets as a problem-solving toolwhen facing conflict or challengingsituations.

"You" puppets. The same materi-als can be used to create puppets or portraits of friends or family members,perhaps to honor people or be given as gifts.

Funny faces. Take a close-upblack and white photograph of eachchild. Enlarge and print each photoon copy paper. Children can thencolor themselves using multiculturalmarkers, crayons, or oil pastels. Trymaking multiple copies, so childrencan try out different colors on them-selves...What would I look like withgreen eyes? Darker skin? Curly hair?At greater expense (but less use ofpaper), copy black and white photosonto transparencies.

Human commonalitiesCenterpiece bookAjmera, M., & Ivanko, J.D. (1999).To be a kid. Durham, NC: SHAKTIfor Children. Illustrations by vari-ous photographers.

Through colorful photographsand simple text, To Be a Kid identifiesmany commonalities of childhood.To be a kid means...spending timewith family, learning new things,

playing ball, sharing music, creating art, and acting silly. Each page showsphotographs of children of variousraces, cultures, and nations engagedin the same basic activities.

This book is an interesting exam-ple of the interdependence of textand illustrations: The message ofdiversity is carried through the photographs, while sameness is con-veyed through words. For example,page 13, that carries the words, "Tobe a kid means playing ball," alsoshows photographs of children ofdiverse physical appearances in India,Cuba, Mexico, and Antigua and Barbuda, all engaged in differentkinds of ball games in diverse neighborhood settings.

The final two pages of the bookprovide further information aboutways that basic elements of most children's lives (family, school, recreation and play, arts, animals,fun, and friends) are in some waysdifferent from place to place, yet are essentially the same.

Extended learning possibilitiesAlike AND Different. To Be

a Kid differs from the other threebooks described, in that the essentialtheme of the text is not physicaldiversity. The diverse appearances of the children are, however, high-lighted through the book's vibrantphotography.

A useful book that extends uponthis theme of diversity within fundamental sameness is A CoolDrink of Water (Kerley, 2002), a photographic essay that shows

people of many cultures and racespouring, transporting, and enjoyingdrinking water.

A series of photograph books byMorris about topics such as bread(1993a), hats (1993b), and shoes(1998) illustrate the many differentways people from around the worlddesign and use common basics of life.

These books can serve as a startingpoint for conversation with smallgroups of children. For example, ateacher might begin, “We are allwearing shoes. How are our shoesalike? How are they different?”

Universal music. A wonderfulCD to connect with the booksdescribed here is "The world singsgoodnight" (Various artists, 1993). Itis a collection of authentic lullabiesfrom around the world, sung innative languages by native voices andaccompanied by native instruments.It is soothing music to play at nap orrest time. The concepts (around theworld, people all sleep and have special songs for sleep time, and thesesongs each have their own specialsound) can be explored at anothertime by asking children if there are songs their families sing to themat bedtime.

"Like You and Me" is a recordedsong appropriate for young childrenthat emphasizes commonalitiesamong children of various cultures(Raffi, 1985). The words introducelisteners to children's names withwhich they may be unfamiliar (Mejalives in Kenya. Pierre lives in France),and choruses that each child is "a very special son or daughter, a lotlike you and me" (unpaged).

After children are familiar withthe music, create piggyback or zippersongs with them using children in the class as examples. Sing thesong together, inserting children's

Celebrate the ways inwhich people are both

different and alike.



names and their country of origin, orinsert children's names and a currentstreet name, neighborhood name, orother words, and keep the chorus thesame. Teachers could also insert afavorite activity named by each child,for example, "Carolee likes to dance,Sami likes to build."

Bulletin board. As a group, createa poster list with children's suggestionsof ways that class members look alike(for example, we all have hair [if this istrue], we all have eyes, we are all small-er than grown-ups). The next day, adda list of children's suggestions of waysthey differ from one another (differenteye colors, skin colors, height, andother attributes). On a third day, listother ways children are the same (weall like to play, we all sleep, we all eat,we all have ideas). On days four andfive, create a bulletin board with chil-dren. Show how the children in theclass fall into selected areas of differ-ence (for example, hair color, skincolor, eye color, or gender). Aroundthe border of the bulletin board, postchildren's decorated or illustratedstatements of commonality.

Beyond These BooksThe books described in this article

directly lend themselves to addressingyoung children's interest and curiosityabout physical differences due to raceand/or geographical original. Thesebooks represent only one type of literature that early childhood teacherscan use to help children to be accept-ing of and comfortable with diversity.Education for diversity can andshould also include high-quality mul-ticultural books that tell good stories,

and that illustrate and celebrate (butdo not necessarily take as a centralfocus) human physical differencesand similarities.

As children grow through the early childhood years, they becomeincreasingly aware of less directlyobservable differences and similaritiesamong people: culture, abilities, personality, and other differences.They begin to develop awareness ofand curiosity about increasingly subtleattributes such as economic differ-ences, diversity in family composition,and how families live (Pulido-Tobiassen & Gonzalez-Mena, 1999).

Provide children with literature andother learning materials (such as puz-zles, puppets, dolls, pretend playprops) that help them explore howothers speak, eat, dress, play, work, andcarry out family roles. These itemshelp children become more aware ofthe cultural differences and similaritiesthat reflect people's ethnic identities,and encourage children to movebeyond noticing the physical dimen-sions of how people look, to considerthe ways people think, act, and live.

Books that highlight physical differences such as skin color, facialappearance, and hair color—andlearning experiences that extend thoseobservations—are an important anddevelopmentally relevant early steptoward exploring more complex social studies concepts and attitudesrelated to race, ethnicity, culture, and diversity.

ReferencesAjmera, M., & Ivanko, J.D. (1999). To be a

kid. Durham, NC: SHAKTI for Children. Bainbridge, J.M., Panteleo, S., & Ellis, M.

(1999). Multicultural picture books:Perspectives from Canada. Social Studies,90(4), 183-188.

Damon, W., & Hart, D. (1988). Self-understanding in childhood and adolescence.New York: Cambridge University Press.

Derman-Sparks, L., and the A.B.C. TaskForce (1990). The antibias curriculum:Tools for empowering young children.Washington, DC: National Associationfor the Education of Young Children.

Fry, P.G. (1994). Expanding multiculturalcurriculum: Helping children discovercultural similarities. Social Studies andthe Young Learner, 6(3), 12-15.

Hamanaka, S. (1994). All the colors of theearth. New York: Morrow.

Intrater, R.G. (1995). Two eyes, a nose, anda mouth. New York: Scholastic.

Katz, K. (1999). The colors of us. New York:Henry Holt.

Kerley, B. (2002). A cool drink of water.Washington, DC: National Geographic.

Lee, G.L., & Johnson, W. (2000). The needfor interracial storybooks in effectivemulticultural classrooms. MulticulturalEducation, 8(2), 27-29.

Mendoza, J., & Reese, D. (2001). Examin-ing multicultural picture books for theearly childhood classroom: Possibilitiesand pitfalls/Una inspeccion de librosilustrados multiculturales para los pro-gramas de la ninez temprana: posibili-dades y peligros. Early ChildhoodResearch and Practice, 3(2), unpaged.

Morris, A. (1993a). Bread, bread, bread.New York: Harper Trophy.

Morris, A. (1993b). Hats, hats, hats. NewYork Harper Trophy.

Morris, A. (1998). Shoes, shoes, shoes. NewYork: Harper Trophy.

MVP (1994). Baby mugs. Chatsworth, CA:MVP Home Entertainment.

Pulido-Tobiassen, D., & Gonzalez-Mena, J.(1999). A place to begin: Working withparents on issues of diversity. Oakland,CA: California Tomorrow.

Raffi. (1985). “Just like you and me.” OnOne Light/One Sun. Vancouver, BC:Troubadour Records.

Strasser, J.K. (2001). Beautiful me! Cele-brating diversity through literature andart. Childhood Education, 77(2), 76-80.

Various Artists (1993). The world sings good-night. Boulder, CO: Silver Wave Records.

Wardle, F. (1992). Supporting biracial children in the school setting. Educationand Treatment of Children, 15(2), 163-172.

Wham, M.A., Barnhardt, J.E., & Cook,G.L. (1996). Enhancing multiculturalawareness through the storybook read-ing experience. Journal of Research andDevelopment in Education, 30(1), 1-9.

Young children focus onthe concrete and

observable.



Put These Ideas Into Pract ice !

Note: Dimensions of Early Childhood readers are encouraged to copy this material for early childhood students as well as teachers of young children as a professional development tool.

Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes, Cornrows, and Curls: Building on Booksto Explore Physical Diversity With Preschool Children

Kristen M. Kemple and Maria Lopez

Prompt conversation among teachersUse the article’s three opening vignettes as conversation starters. Discussionleaders may ask questions such as these:

• Why might children say these things?

• What comments have you overheard children make regarding physical diversity?

• How have these comments made you feel? What have these comments made you think?

• How can situations such as these be used as opportunities for learning about, and developing positive attitudes toward, human diversity?

Study children’s books A Rainbow All Around MeAll the Colors of the EarthAll the Colors We Are:

The Story of How We Get Our Skin ColorBlack Is Brown Is TanBlack, White, Just RightHairs—PelitosHappy to Be Nappy Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our ChildrenSkin AgainThe Colors of UsThe Skin I’m In: A First Look at RacismTo Be a KidTwo Eyes, a Nose, and a MouthWhoever You Are

• Brainstorm ways to use these and similar books as discussion starters with teachers and children.

• With colleagues, explore how these books can be used to make connections to other areas of the curriculum

including art, music, and science.

Extend children’s learning

Study natureMany elements in nature are both alike and different—not just humans! How can adults encourage children to consider the concept of differences within commonality? For example, examine and discuss the similarities and differences among rocks, leaves, andflowers. The possibilities are endless!

Explore the visual arts Art supplies—paint, paper, crayons, modeling compound—are available in natural tones of human hair and skin. Children can celebrate the human rainbowin drawings, paintings, sculpture, and collage. Toddlers’ art will be primarilyexpressive as they mix colors and compare and contrast hues. Older children’sexplorations may be representational, such as puppets or self-portraits.


their awareness of differences and to develop their...

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