Raising Black Children who Love Reading and and Writing: A Guide from Birth Through Grade Six

Raising Black Children who Love Reading and Writing: A Guide from Birth Through Grade Six, by Deirdre Glenn Paul. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.168 pp. $35.00, cloth.

Reviewed by Ming Shi Trammel (doctoral student), Howard University.

(ProQuest Information and Learning: Document begins here in the original)

bell hooks, a leading feminist scholar and writer, recalls, when as a young girl she fell in love with the Schomburg Library-a library filled with books written solely by African Americans. It was in that moment of discovery that hooks knew she wanted to read all of those books in the library by African American writers. It was at that moment she knew she wanted to become a writer.

It is this love of reading and writing that Deirdre Glenn Paul. is trying to help African American parents encourage with their own children in her book, Raising Black Children Who Love Reading and Writing: A Guide from Birth through Grade Six. In the introductory chapter of Paul's book, she explains to parents the Black community's deep oral and literary history that dates back to slavery. In spite of the challenges that Africans had when they were brought into slavery, Paul writes, "African Americans learned to use oral language in ways that bridged aspects of their native tongues with standard American and British English" (p. 1). Paul narrates in the latter part of this introductory chapter the debate that White slave masters had over teaching slaves to read and write and the subsequent passing of laws that would forbid slaves to become educated. She also describes how, despite such laws slaves like Fredrick Douglas would still learn how to read and write-skills Douglas eventually used to "seek his physical emancipation" (p. 3).

In the ensuing chapters of Paul's guide book, she gives an overview of the African American child in the United States school system, and she details prescriptive ways for parents to impact their child's reading and writing abilities from birth to adolescence. In Chapter 2, about the history of the African American child in the school system, Paul describes segregated school systems, desegregated schools, and multicultural education. There is also a small section in this chapter about the high placement of minority children in special education, especially Latino and African American boys.

Chapter 3 of this guide engages the reader in the spirited dialogue on the context of language in the minority community. Paul takes us through the debate over Ebonics and then through the struggles of the Latino community over the issues of Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language programs.

In Chapter 4, the new parent learns how infants acquire language. The author tells parents that they should actively be working on their children's learning development from infancy. Parents can do this by talking to their infant children. According to Paul, at this stage of development, it is important that African American parents' talking be full of praise and compliments on their racial features, thereby, instilling an early sense of racial pride. As children emerge into toddlerhood, the writer suggests that parents buy books as presents for their children, or give them certificates to purchase books. This, according to the author, establishes a value for reading.

Chapter 5, relates the importance of preschool readers and writers being able to model their parents by seeing them immersed in various reading materials (i.e., books, magazines, newspapers). Parents should provide many opportunities for their children to use, along with them, reading material (e.g., a parent or caregiver could plan a family trip where the child helps them by reading a map). Paul, in this chapter, also gives tips to help parents encourage the early writing skills of preschoolers. It is here that Paul begins to introduce the connection between the reading and writing processes.

Chapter 6 further guides parents about the importance of selecting the right school for their children. If the local public school system is the only choice for some parents, Paul offers ways to navigate the public school system. Along those lines, Chapter 7 tackles the various issues surrounding early elementary school education. Here, Paul highlights the debate of whole language vs. phonics for teaching young readers and writers. Paul suggests that a blending of both approaches works well with African American children.

Chapter 8 offers ways to enhance older children and their literacy and writing development. What is important here, according to the author, is that children are exposed to "quality" literature, particularly literature that positively reflects their culture and heritage.

Lastly, Chapter 9, raises the concern of reading disability in children. Here, Paul gives a definition of "learning disability" and broaches the common mislabeling of reading disability in children. Further, she offers steps that parents can take to assist their child who has a reading disability at home.

To conclude her book, Paul has appendices that list good books for children to read and ways to decode the multifarious stereotypes contained in many books.

Paul has written a comprehensive book that will help African American parents engage their children in the processes of reading and writing. Uniquely, Paul's guidebook connects the concepts of reading and writing (e.g., Fitzgerald & Shanahan, 2000), which is not revolutionary but is an often underutilized approach.

One minor criticism of this guide is that it often overwhelms the reader with information. Often times it seems as if Paul is trying to tell us everything there is about a particular topic. However, "too much information" should not deter anyone from utilizing this excellent guide.

If African American parents are to encourage the love of reading and writing such as discovered by the adolescent hooks in the Schomburg Library, then Deidre Glenn Paul's guide is a good start!

REFERENCES

Fitzgerald, J., & Shanahan, T. (2000). Reading and Writing Relations and Their Development. Educational Psychologist, 35(1), 39-50.

Copyright Howard University Summer 2001
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