Why Utah Children Need Global Literature

Junko Yokota, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Reading and Language, National Louis University & Director of Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books

In our rapidly changing world, it’s important for students to be aware of their own cultural backgrounds, as well as those around them. Literature set in global cultures provides an opportunity for children to go beyond a tourist perspective—gaining only surface-level information about another culture. Literature expands children’s life spaces as they travel outside the boundaries of their lives to other places, times, and ways of living. They immerse themselves in story worlds and gain insights about how people in global communities live, feel, and think, developing empathy as well as knowledge.