Embedded in this integrated curriculum is the teaching of citizenship. Elementary teachers regularly wrestle with citizenship issues, including the relationship of the individual to the group. Many school districts teach citizenship to children who speak a variety of languages and dialects. Books can stimulate empathy, compassion, and a search for solutio ns to problems we all face. They can teach us that contacts with others generate both conflict and cooperation.
Books of fiction provide a safe place to explore life's troubling issues.
The illustrations make potent contributions to a book's impact. Anyone who is sensitive to the exquisite interplay of word and picture in some Japanese art forms, as well as anyone whose clearest memory of fourth grade is a travel poster near the classroo m window, can appreciate the power of pictures. Sometimes those pictures are nothing but cliches coolie hats and kimono, often wrapped incorrectly. Yet, the best illustrations can offer a visual record of another place or time, introduce a new art style, or simply reinforce the power of a story. While children in the United States generally outgrow the idea that Europe is entirely populated by girls in red riding hoods who have grandmothers prone to misfortune, many of them have not yet realized that Asia is more than the fabled land of palaces, dragons, and star princesses.