Publication Date
8-2025
Abstract
This investigation reports the findings of a critical multicultural content analysis of recent-award winning Orbis Pictus (non-fiction) picture books. The analysis examines patterns of grit and slack strategies across race and gender for historical characters of color as they overcame boundaries and accomplished long-term goals. Findings suggest that the concept of “grit” is not merely a universal construct of an outstanding individual who lifts themself up by their own bootstraps but that systems are important in allowing an individual to succeed to overcome boundaries. The bootstrap myth can be contested by critical readers, even young readers of picture books, as they are trained to notice multiple strategies to success. Often success in overcoming boundaries comes through “slack”, when others offer support to a historical character. In many stories, slack allows the historical individual to find and maintain grit. Supportive systems aid success in the stories examined, although the role and action of systems vary widely across gender and ethnicity.
Keywords: grit, slack, race, gender, multicultural nonfiction picture books
Recommended Citation
Mensonides Gritter, K., Lau, W., Zhou, Y., Pu, J., & Shea, M. (2025). Bootmaking Before Bootstrapping: Patterns of Grit and Slack in Multicultural Nonfiction Picture Books. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 64 (2). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol64/iss2/4
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