Mama's Little Reader

Grant loves his books. He loves to flip the pages. He loves to chew on the corners. He whines like mad when you take a book away and don't quickly return with a new, different, brightly colored volume.

And, English teacher mommy loves to read books to Grant, but I must admit that I have a growing aversion to a few in our library. Now, we have a vast library of books, some of which are beautiful. Those books are the books Grant received as gifts. The majority of our books (and we have at least a hundred books) came from garage sales spread across the westside of Indianapolis, and sometimes they are old, sometimes torn, but most often, they are pathetic.

Most parents wouldn't find these books lacking, but these same parents are not the parents of an African-American child, especially an inter-racially adopted child who will no doubt struggle one day with identity issues. That said, I ask: "Where are all the black people?" Every old book we have is littered with pixie blondes in pigtails or pastey looking white boys with bowl cuts. They might have a semi-Asian looking child mixed in, but truth be told, that kid could "go either way." I let Grant unabashedly chew on these books.

So, if you want to know what my kid needs for Christmas, here's the short of it: some books with characters who look like him! Thankfully, our newer books have plenty of minority representation, but anything with a copywrite of 1985 or prior is a little Anglo-Saxy for my taste. Also, thankfully, many kids books deal with characters who are bears, or inch worms, or cats in hats, which--now that I come to think about it-- might do more damage in the end anyway.