Books and their stories stimulate our imagination, make us identify with characters, and at the same time shape our idea of society.
What kind of society do we live in? Does it correspond to the images of the books we read to children or that are read by young people? In most children’s books, children or teenagers have a mom and a dad, live in a single-family house, speak German, go on vacation by car, celebrate Christmas, can participate in all social activities, and are excited about school. But our society is so much more colorful and diverse and characterized by many more lifestyles and realities.
Glitter Box Info:
We want all children and young people to have the opportunity to find themselves and their realities in books and stories, and also to gain insight into the lives of others. That’s why the the glitter box exists: a box of books that tell many stories and depict diversity.
Currently, the glitter box includes books on the topics:
- PoCs¹/ Black people/girls*² in the lead role
- Trans identity
- Intersexuality
- Gender roles(expectations)
- Rainbow families
- Visual impairment
- Illnesses, such as depression
- Feelings, such as anxiety
- Friendship
- Multilingualism
- Religion
- Family diversity
- Homelessness
Explanations:
¹ PoC – People of Color
² Girls* – the * functions here as a form of self-designation
Contact and lending
The Glitzerkiste can be borrowed by educational institutions such as day-care centers, after-school programs, schools, residential groups, but also for project days. If you would like to borrow the Glitzerkiste, please send us an email to glitzerkiste@gerede-dresden.de with the following information:
- Name of the institution and the borrowing person
- Suggestion for the time period of the loan
- Desired date for pickup
- Age range of the children
- Which books do you want? Feel free to tell us topics!
The loan is for a period of 2 to 4 weeks, so that as many as possible have access to the books.
Choose the books that are right for you from our online catalogue. Alternatively, we can compile a selection based on your information.
Currently we are working on pedagogical information material, which can accompany the work with the described topics. As long as it is not ready yet, you can find some pedagogical information here: https://situationsansatz.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/kids-2018-01_kinderbuecher.pdf³
We are happy to receive suggestions for further topics and books, improvements and criticism. Even more we are happy if the books are read by children & adults 🙂
Notes ³ We feel the Institute for the Situational Approach does a good job of addressing the issues of diversity in early childhood and can be used as a source of information.