ABSTRACT
It’s 1:00 on a pleasant March afternoon. We are in the staff room of Valley School in Vancouver, British Columbia, having just concluded another session in the family literacy program called PALS. The focus of today’s session was on reading with children. The kindergarten teachers, Suzanne, the program facilitator, and I are discussing several of the issues that arose as we worked with a group of parents over the last several hours. One of the teachers comments that some of the parents seemed concerned with the selection of children’s books that we incorporated into the classroom learning centres today. Indeed, during the debriefing and follow-up discussion, one of the parents commented that her son really enjoys an old “reader” that they had purchased at a yard sale; we noted the affirmative nods. Our talk then turns to the dearth of children’s books available in languages other than English and the challenges of trying to rectify this situation in a school where more than a dozen language groups are represented. The school bell signals the beginning of the afternoon session and the teachers busily head off to their classrooms. I write a note to myself: “We must address the question from the parent about her daughter’s fascination with making signs and notices and displays and her comment that her child is not interested in storybooks, at the next session.”
