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Reflection: The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf

Summary
People can learn social interactions and empathy by reading books as children. Grace Lin
elaborates on the role of reading in the development of children's understanding of themselves
and other people (TEDx Talks, 2016). She underlines that books can both expand the knowledge
of the world around and help an individual reflect on themselves. Grace starts her talk by telling
the audience about her childhood and constant denial of her cultural identity. She mentions that
she and her sisters were the only Asian children in her school as their family lived in the US.
Grace underlines that she was ashamed of her identity trying to fit in and rejecting her Chinese
cultural heritage. As a child, she loved reading, which led her to creating her own books.
However, due to her desire to be American, Grace featured exclusively European characters in
her stories. He wanted to create her own imaginary world, where she was not a Chinese girl, but
an American one. Grace underlines that her peers always pointed out her identity, which made
her even more insecure. Her passion for reading and creating books led her to becoming
children's books writer and illustrator.
Eventually, Grace acknowledged that her constant rejection of cultural identity resulted in
denial of her family heritage. She finally decided to explore her Chinese roots and incorporate
Chinese art and traditions into her works. It resulted in her creating an extremely successful book
with an Asian character, which became loved by kids all over the world. As she managed to
comprehend her own values, Grace understood that "as much as kids need books to be mirrors,
kids also need books to be windows" (TEDx Talks, 2016, [10:55]). She concludes that children
need to both see themselves in books and be able to explore other people's perspectives. Books
can help children to see beyond themselves to learn how to empathize and to share. Grace
highlights that books-mirrors and books-windows are equally important for the development of
children.
Response
Grace presents compelling arguments on the topic based on her personal experience. I
agree that children can learn about the world and other people from books. As Kucirkova (2019)
mentions, "book-reading can support empathy if it fosters in-group/out-group identification and
minimizes in-group/out-group bias." Therefore, children can learn to identify and appreciate
various cultural backgrounds, forming a more comprehensive knowledge of diversity. It also
promotes the ability to reflect on their own experiences and empathize with others. Eventually, it
will lead to greater comprehension and respect for various cultural and social identities. Children
will learn how to identify other people's and their own emotions in order to build meaningful
connections and maintain healthy interactions.
In the end of the talk Grace underlines that children should have the equal amount of
books that are mirrors and that are windows. I do not really understand this point as books
usually tend to promote both self-reflection and empathy. For example, children read a story and
relate themselves to the character. They can self-reflect, comparing their features with the
qualities that the character of the book possesses. At the same time, they can learn how to
interact with other people based on the behavior exemplified by the character. Therefore, I do not
agree that there is any distinction between books-mirrors and books-windows. I share the idea
that books should promote both abilities at the same time by featuring admirable characters.
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References
Kucirkova, N. (2019). How could children’s storybooks promote empathy? A conceptual
framework based on developmental psychology and literary theory. Frontiers in
Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2019.00121
TEDx Talks. (2016, 19 March). The windows and mirrors of your child's bookshelf | Grace Lin |
TEDxNatick [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_wQ8wiV3FVo&ab_channel=TEDxTalks