A Bloomington grade school teacher has produced a children's book that she feels will better serve a more diverse student population.
Karen Odman-O'Shea teaches music at Irving Elementary. She said she wanted to find books for her class to read to help them settle down in the final minutes of their time in the school’s new piano and keyboard lab. But she has struggled to find books where Black and Hispanic children are featured, and many that did are outdated.
“I gradually removed those books. I just said I’m not going to keep doing that, and I’m just going to write my own,” she said.
Odman-O'Shea produced the book entitled, "DeShawn's Song." It tells the story of a boy who overcomes family adversity through music and friendship. It features two Black children, two Hispanic children and a Black teacher.
“I feel that there are many students at my school and elsewhere that can relate to not having a father at home,” she said. “I wanted the students to be able to relate to the characters in the book on multiple levels.”
Irving's art teacher, Nicole Bussan, provided illustrations for the book.
A majority of students at the school just west of downtown are Black, Hispanic or multiracial. According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education, 37% of Irving’s students are white, 31% are Black, 12% are Hispanic and 19% are multiracial.
Principal Messina Lambert said diversity in children’s literature remains a “huge issue.”
“We do try to be intentional about finding literature that is representative of our kids, but it can be very difficult finding something that is going to represent them in a positive way, not just a stereotypical way,” Lambert said.
Lambert noted the district approved a new elementary language arts curriculum that shows marked improvement in its portrayal of minority children.
“Opening those boxes and digging through those boxes I was so pleased to see how many of those books that came with the series, tons of picture books and novels that are representing students of color,” she said.
The self-published book is available on Amazon. Odman-O'Shea said she plans to use the book in her classroom next year and she’d like to see teachers use the book in classrooms to help more kids see themselves in stories that can inspire them.
“We have African Americans and we have Hispanic children and they want to see themselves and they can relate to the book better,” Odman-O’Shea said.
What remains to be seen is whether Odman-O’Shea will be able to share the book with them in person this school year as District 87 works out its COVID-19 plans for the upcoming school year.
Odman-O'Shea and Bussan's efforts reflect a larger movement to produce more children's books that are intended to serve diverse communities. For example, the #OwnVoices campaign promotes authors who "share a marginalized identity with characters that they're writing about; across race, ethnicity, indigenous nations, gender, sexuality, ability impairment, class, religion, etc."
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