Gabriela is confident that she will find the perfect book. She knows how hard her teacher has worked to ensure that there is a variety of texts from which to choose during self-selected reading time. There are joke books, riddle books, books of poems, magazines, mysteries, and graphic novels. Gabriela’s teacher understands that fifth graders are motivated to read when they have access to books about topics that are important to them, so her teacher has included books about technology, sports, animals, families, and friendships, to name just a few. Because Gabriela’s home language is Spanish and she is learning English, her teacher has provided books in both languages. New books appear on the shelves constantly. On this day, Gabriela discovers one of these new books written by the same author that the teacher has been reading aloud to the class.
Delighted, she plops down on the floor and starts to read. Gabriela’s teacher observes all of this from a distance and makes a quick note to herself regarding the connections her students are beginning to make between her read-aloud choices and the students’ selfselected reading materials. At this very same moment—over 10,000 miles away in a rural South African school—Puleng, an equally vibrant fifth grader, has finished her assignments early and looks around the room for something to do. She would prefer to read. She excels in reading, and her teacher has often told her that she is a gifted learner. But Puleng has few choices for reading materials—either she can reread the one and only textbook that is to be found in her classroom, or she can select from one of the hundreds of books donated to her school library through an international aid project—mostly used and surplus books.
All of the books are written in English, a language Puleng is learning, but she would prefer to read in Sepedi, the language she speaks at home. Puleng’s teacher gives her permission to go to “the school library”—a small storage closet crammed with books. Puleng attempts to locate a book on the shelf that interests her. There are some high school math books. There is a social studies textbook. But Puleng, like Gabriela, is interested in books about technology, sports, animals, families, and friendship. She finds none of these. Finally, Puleng attempts to read a page in one of the textbooks, not realizing that the book is written in Spanish, a language she has never heard or seen in print before. Puleng finally gives up and goes back to the classroom. Puleng’s teacher watches her return and takes note of the frustration and disappointment written across her face.
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