The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in risking your life for a cause anchored in some distant political arena.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books convey important values and reflect shared human experiences. Lack of representation in literature raises concerns about inclusivity and equality.
Walter Dean Myers emphasizes the role of books in conveying values and exploring shared human experiences. He highlights the concern that when certain groups of children are not represented in literature, it sends a message of exclusion, potentially affecting their sense of belonging and self-worth, and stresses the importance of diverse representations in children's literature.
Themes
BooksValuesRepresentationEducationInclusivityHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture about the importance of diversity in education, a teacher might use this quote to highlight why inclusive literature matters.
More from Walter Dean Myers
All quotes →I remember one time being told I could not play in a basketball game at the College of William and Mary because I was black, even though I was playing with a United States Army team.
Walter Dean MyersRead
As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.
Walter Dean MyersRead
We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country is dependent on the participation of all of our citizens.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Yeah, that's funny, huh?...Something hurts you real bad and you get used to it. Like being hurt becomes part of who you are.
Walter Dean MyersRead
We’re suggesting that [kids are] missing something if they don’t read but, actually, we’re condemning kids to a lesser life. If you had a sick patient, you would not try to entice them to take their medicine. You would tell them, ‘Take this or you’re going to die.’ We need to tell kids flat out: reading is not optional.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Similar quotes
If we can dispel the delusion that learning about computers should be an activity of fiddling with array indexes and worrying whether X is an integer or a real number, we can begin to focus on programming as a source of ideas.
Hal AbelsonRead
More money is put into prisons than into schools. That, in itself, is the description of a nation bent on suicide. I mean, what is more precious to us than our own children? We are going to build a lot more prisons if we do not deal with the schools and their inequalities.
Jonathan KozolRead
If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
Have we forgotten about the children, and thus forsaken the next generation?
Audrey HepburnRead
Teaching is not filling up a pail, it is lighting a fire.
William Butler YeatsRead
But without doubts, without a standpoint reached through questionings, human beings can't acquire knowledge.
Ayaan Hirsi AliRead