The Outside vs. The Inside

Red: A Crayon's Story

Summary:

Red: A Crayon's Story is written and illustrated by Michael Hall. The illustrations are a combination of colored crayon drawings, cut paper, and digital design. This mixed medium used for the illustrations truly takes the reader into the world of Red the blue crayon. In the beginning nobody realizes that Red is actually blue because on the outside it says that he is red. All of the other crayons keep expecting Red to make red things, but they always come out blue. Several crayons and other art supplies try to help him make red things, but it never works. One day, a Berry crayon asks Red to draw an ocean for his boat to go in. Red is unsure that this will go successfully but tries anyway. Red (the blue crayon) draws a beautiful ocean for the Berry crayon's boat and all the other crayons are ecstatic that Red was able to create the ocean. Red realizes he can draw all sorts of blue things and everyone is so proud of his work!

Reflection:

Our outside doesn't always reflect our inside. That is what I think one of the big take-aways from Red: A Crayon's Story is. Author and illustrator, Michael Hall, discusses on his website why he wrote Red and what it means to him, "I hope the book will provoke classroom discussions about issues like judging people based on outside appearances, how all of us have both strengths and weaknesses, and the importance of being true to oneself. And I hope Red will inspire reflection about the subtle ways children become mislabeled, judging children based on their successes rather than their failures, and the unmitigated joy of finding one’s place in the world." Hall like Red has a label. Hall's label says dyslexia, and many people in his life, much like Red's, tried to help but really were unhelpful and kind of made the situation worse. Hall hopes this book will help people learn to look beyond the label we place on children and adults. Each person is so much more than what any label might describe them as.

Applications:

This text doesn't really focus on a specific label, but seems to be more geared towards ability related misconceptions and labels. In addition to ability, this text could be used to confront labels like gender identity, gender expression, and I think this book might could be even used to talk about mental health/feelings and self image as well. Since the whole point of the text is about the outside not reflecting what's on the inside I think this text could be used to talk about any of those topics with support from other texts that are more directly addressing those labels. A text to pair with Red that highlights gender identity is Introducing Teddy by Jessica Walton. Some good texts to use with Red to address the labels associated with gender expression are Sparkle Boy by L, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, and Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. A few texts to pair with Red to help discuss mental health and having mixed feelings are Tough Guys Have Feelings Too by Keith Negley (BONUS this one also helps break gender stereotypes, guys can be emotional too!), I'm Happy-Sad Today by Lory Britain, and My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. If you want to use Red to focus on combating ability labels then you should look into incorporating the following texts into your discussions: My Brother Charlie by Holly and Ryan Peete, El Deafo by Cece Bell, and Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Red is a great text for starting these conversations, if you need help planning your discussion of this text you can check out the discussion guide linked below. The guide isn't suitable for all grade levels so it is best to adapt what the guide provides to best meet the needs of your students! An activity that I think is overall appropriate for elementary grades is featured in Reading to Make a Difference by Lester Laminack and Katie Kelly. In chapter one of this text on page 15 a teacher in North Carolina had her students reflect on what their outside looks like and what their inside looks like and then had them create a poster about their inside and outside to share with their classmates.

Check out Michael Hall's website!

Check out this discussion guide for Red: A Crayon's Story !

Sparkle Boy

Summary:

Sparkle Boy is written by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Maria Mola. Casey has a Big Sister named Jessica. Jessica has a shimmery skirt, glittery finger nail polish, and sparkly bracelets. Casey loves all things shimmery, glittery, and sparkly. The adults in his life don't have a problem letting him wear things that are shimmery, glittery, and sparkly. This makes his sister Jessica upset, she is mad that Casey is allowed to copy what she wears. One day at the library, some other kids begin to tease Casey for dressing "like a girl" and wearing "girly things". Jessica stands up for her brother and together they enjoy all things shimmery, glittery, and sparkly.

Reflection:

Our society has polarized things like clothing and toys to be either girly or just for boys. My biggest wondering is how did we get to this point? Back in ancient times men wore garments like skirts and dresses similarly to women. When in the history of the world did the acceptability of that change? What made that change happen? Who instigated it and what was their reasoning? (I've got some research to do. Now that you've gotten a peak into my brain we can move on and focus on the text). In this text it does not explicitly proclaim that Casey is questioning his gender identity, he could be, but that is not the focus of this story. Casey is breaking the gender norms that society has imposed. He sees what his older sister gets to wear and use and he wants to too! He doesn't necessarily do this because he believes he is a girl, he does it because someone he admires and looks up to is doing it and he wants to imitate her. There is proof of this in the text when they are at the library, another little girl says that Casey is a sister but he denies it and says he is a boy.

If he identified with the female gender he would have said something to support that notion. This text is centralized on the concept of gender expression and combating the norms associated with gender. Another huge theme on display so clearly in the pages above is that the inside doesn't always match the outside. Casey still associates himself with the male gender but his outside doesn't dress like typical males do. I know when I first read the text, before I had gotten to the library scene, I was already assuming that this narrative would be about gender identity rather than expression alone. As educators we can't be like myself when I was reading the first part of the book, we can't make assumptions about our students. We shouldn't label them based on our own thoughts about their actions and how they carry themselves. That is something reading this book has taught me, to not jump to conclusions so quickly. Just because a student is breaking gender norms doesn't necessarily mean they are questioning their gender identity as well. They could be imitating someone in their life that they admire and respect by making choices that reflect the gender of who they admire and break the norms of their own gender.

Applications:

This text is great for educating and initiating discussions with your students about gender expression. This can be a difficult discussion to have but it is important. We want to give our student accurate information about gender expression and the topics that go along with it (gender identity). If we do not give our students the correct information about these topics and avoid the conversation we put our students in danger. If we aren't willing to talk about it and neither are their parents, they will look for information elsewhere and that is truly terrifying. The internet can be a dark place full of dishonest information and people looking to exploit children. We owe it to our students to talk with them about gender expression and any other "hard" subjects they bring up. By taking the time to talk with them and give them valid information we save them from the potential dangers that are out there. So, no matter your own personal opinion of gender (But please be considerate of what your students may be enduring, don't be harsh, whether you agree or not you can still be kind and keep your students safe) for the sake of safety talk to them about it, answer their questions, read them texts like Sparkle Boy. The activity guide linked below has some great starter questions, websites, and recommended texts to help educate teachers so that they can then have discussion with their students about Sparkle Boy and gender expression safely and accurately.

Check out Lesléa Newman's website!

Check out Maria Mola's website!

Check out this discussion and activity guide

Other Thoughts

These texts make a fantastic pair! You can discuss with kids how restricting labels can be in Red and then give them opportunities to identify labels in Sparkle Boy. The application practice can continue by using the other texts I mentioned earlier in this post. Several of the texts I mentioned are available on Epic! .Both texts have beautiful illustrations. Maria Mola, is incredibly talented. I love how gentle the lines and colors in her illustrations are, this really makes the shimmery, glittery, and sparkly aspects of the illustrations pop! Michael Hall's illustrations transport the reader into the world of the crayons. It was so authentic and exactly like I imagine life would look like if crayons were alive. One of my favorite details is that the pencil is writing the story for the reader to read. It's a small thing but I just really appreciate that the pencil is narrating the story.

Awards for Red: A Crayon's Story

• Booklist Best Picture Books 2015

• Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice 2016

• Cybils Awards nominee 2016

• E.B. White Read-aloud Award finalist 2016

• Goodreads Choice Award 2015

• Irma Black Award finalist 2016

• Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award finalist 2015

• Minnesota Book Award Finalist 2016

• Minnesota Star of the North Award 2016

• Rainbow List 2016

Awards for Sparkle Boy

• Finalist, International School of Beijing Panda Book Awards, 2019-2020

• Honor Book, Massachusetts Book Awards, 2018

• Bank Street College of Education Best Books of the Year List, 2018

• Honor Book, Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature Irma Black Award, 2018

• Storytelling World Resource Award Honors Title, 2018