When We Talked About Children's Books and Social Justice

Last November 29, 2020, Candy Gourlay and I were panelists at the Pandemic Playbook event. This is in part, an activity and discussion on books in general as it was the last few days of the Manila International Book Fair. 

Candy has blogged about her after thoughts on the panel we had. We were tasked to discuss the Teaching of Social Justice. As authors, we preferred to talk about how we Navigate Social Justice in Children's Books. 

Visit Candy's blog, and read up on the way she distilled her ideas about social justice, young readers and the author's life. The blog post includes links to our panel and the Manila International Book Fair YouTube channel. 

 As for me, I don't think social justice per se can be taught, but empathy and compassion can be nurtured and nourished. We can build the ethos among children. When a person recognizes another person's pain, as well as joy, it is easier to understand the other's emotions. An awareness of the emotions is the beginning of critical thinking. That is a good time for a teachable moment. Parents, teachers, school librarians, counselors and working adults who are caring and looking after children need to be perceptive of these teachable moments regardless of the given curriculum, subject matter, expected norms or social behavior. The ability to see another person as as an equal begins with kindness. This, I think is the seed bed for justice to grow.

 And because we are ever curious, we felt it is but proper to continue the conversations. So last night (Manila Time), Candy I went live on Instagram to talk about the picture book scene in the Philippines, the issues we Filipino children's authors grapple with that find its way in our fiction. 

Candy tweets below:

Filipino author & librarian Zarah Gagatiga clues me in on some truly brave and visionary #picturebooks in the Philippines that reflect the tough realities of child readers while offering hope and possibility

Our IG Live Chat👉https://t.co/JfJJIEQXnC @SCBWI_BI pic.twitter.com/3sXEYoRezc

— Candy Gourlay (@candygourlay) December 7, 2020

Head on to Twitter and Instagram for the ongoing conversation. 

I am still working my way through the memory and experience of the live chat. These days I take things slow for my mental health. But definitely, I will pick up on another topic, especially the one on human capital, which we covered and pare it through another blog post.