Family literacy is the everyday work families do together to build language, nurture readers and create a foundation for lifelong learning — long before and beyond the classroom.
One of the tools of family literacy — one used early on to engender an early exposure to books and reading — is known by educators and researchers as "mirror books." These are books that reflect a reader's own experiences, identity or culture.
A book can take a child somewhere new. It can introduce a family, a language, a neighborhood or a way of life the child has never experienced.
But sometimes the most important book is one that feels familiar.
It can be one where a child sees a character who looks like them, a family that resembles their own, a grandmother who speaks the same language, a neighborhood that looks like home. It can be a story that reminds them of something that happened in their own family.
The idea goes back to literacy scholar Rudine Sims Bishop, who wrote in 1990 about books as "mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors." A mirror can reflect a reader's own life, while a window can offer a view into someone else's experience. A sliding glass door allows readers to imagine themselves inside a story.
The idea of mirror books has become an important way for educators to think about representation in children's books.
For author Sandra Cisneros, however, finding herself in a book in childhood isn't simply an educational concept. It became something personal — even in her adult life.
“The Little House” by Virginia Lee Burton was an early favorite. Cisneros’ family didn’t stay in one house for long when she was a little girl. “We were always moving,” said Cisneros. “We were always in new neighborhoods.”
But the book helped her make peace with that itinerance.
“I think this book gave us comfort,” said Cisneros. “It was comforting to know that you could have one house that you could go back to and will never be sold. It’ll be there and it’ll make you feel like you’re safe.”
Hans Christian Andersen’s “Fairy Tales” remains another favorite book, and it’s one that was once a mirror book.
“The Ugly Duckling” was a favorite (fairy tale) of mine," said Cisneros. “I felt ugly and unwanted and disparaged in school as a poor girl. So I really took to heart that story.”
The mirror book of childhood can remain a forever favorite — even if our perspectives change.
“I just can’t tell you how many times I bought this book and given this version (translated by Tiina Nunnelly) to adults, because we need fairy tales now more than ever to give us courage, to give us direction, to give us hope.”
More than seeing yourself
Tracey T. Flores is an associate professor in the department of Language and Literacy at the University of Texas at Austin. She says the value of a mirror book isn't simply that a child recognizes a character or sees an aspect of their own life on the page.
It can create an opening for conversation for that child.
“Seeing yourselves reflected in stories, your communities, your families, your languages can really support you in your literacy development and also what you produce as a writer because then you know that you start to feel like, hey, I can do this too,” said Flores. “I have stories to tell. I have things to say.”
That makes mirror books particularly relevant to family literacy.
Family literacy doesn't happen only when an adult sits down with a child and teaches the mechanics of reading. It also happens in conversations, routines, play, storytelling and the many ordinary interactions that happen at home.
A book can give families another setting for those interactions.
Mirror books are not a cure-all for literacy challenges. But they do help in creating opportunities for engagement.
Finding mirrors
A family can have a book that reflects their experiences and still face barriers to reading together.
Parents and caregivers may be working long hours or taking care of a household. Books may be difficult to afford or access. Families may be navigating more than one language. For Cisneros, a crowded house with many siblings and parents who were very busy either working outside the home or caring for many children presented challenges.
Another issue was a lack of access to books. Cisneros' family confronted this issue, too.
“We didn’t know that you could buy books, because we’d never seen a bookstore in our neighborhood,” said Cisneros. “And we had never been to a bookstore downtown. We had no idea.”
But keep a close eye on that mirror
Here is another issue. What if a book that appears to represent a community may still get that community wrong? What if a mirror book itself is a problem — when it promotes stereotypes or some other misinformation?
Cisneros has her own complicated relationship with at least one book that once served as a mirror book for her.
She once admired the book, “Hiddy: Her First Hundred Years” by Rachel Field. However, she soon found that she didn’t want to recommend it as a mirror book — not for herself.
“I have to warn you that this book, even though it’s a Caldecott (award) winner too, was a favorite of mine about an antique doll from the pilgrim's time that was carved from wood, and it goes through history with her,” said Cisneros.
“But it’s got a very colonial view about the Indigenous people. When I got to that page as an adult, I said, ‘oh, I can’t keep reading this. I’m the Indigenous people.’”
She said that readers “have to read it with the context of the times.”
We can appreciate mirror books — at any age or stage of life
For Cisneros, that connection between books and lived experience has been part of her life as a reader and writer.
The favorite books of childhood are still her favorites.
And it should be lost on no one that the mirror book that Sandra Cisneros found in “The Little House” by Virginia Lee Burton could well have inspired her own book, “The House on Mango Street.”
Over 40 years after its initial publication, that book continues to inspire new generations of readers.
And that street Cisneros wrote about went on to inspire a young reader who eventually became an adult and wrote about another street. Matt de la Peña is the author of “Last Stop on Market Street.”
Cisneros loved the book so much, she sent a fan letter to him.
I said, ‘Matt, your book is so beautiful. I wish I could write a book like this."
He wrote back and said his own book had been inspired by Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street.”
A lasting effect of mirror books may be what happens after the child looks up from the page
Mirror books have always been an important tool in family literacy. However, representation isn't only about seeing someone who looks like you in the pages of a book.
It's also about seeing your experiences treated as worthy of a story.
For Cisneros, that began with the simple image of a house in a book. She went on to become an acclaimed author, a teacher, and a mentor to other writers.
For her, it all started with parents who supported language and reading.
“When you’re that little, you need a mom to plant seeds in you and to water those seeds,” said Cisneros. “And she did that for us. And we didn’t have any money, but we had remarkable parents. I think my mother and father are the ones that should have statues made for them, and I know there's lots of parents like that in the barrio."
This story is part of a Texas Public Radio series examining family literacy as a potential solution to San Antonio’s literacy challenges. Through the experiences of families, educators and local organizations, the reporting examines effective interventions, barriers to access and a closer look at programs showing promise for improving literacy outcomes across generations. Learn more at tpr.org/literacy
Support for the series comes from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.
More about mirror books and family literacy
- We can find mirror books if we keep reading, but there are other resources like Imagination Library San Antonio and Little Read Wagon from the San Antonio Public Library. These are great resources for book deserts or for curating books for the littlest readers and helping parents get books into the hands of their children.
- National Council of Teachers of English: “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors” — An introduction to Rudine Sims Bishop's influential framework for thinking about children's literature.
- Colorín Colorado: “Why Diverse Books Matter: Mirrors and Windows” — Dr. Tracey Flores and Dr. Sandra Osorio explain how children's books can reflect children's identities, languages and cultures.
- Colorín Colorado: Resources on children's literature and language — Information for families and educators on using books to support children's language and literacy development.
- Colorín Colorado: “Help Your Child Learn to Read” — Practical suggestions for families supporting literacy at home, including reading and talking together.
If you have information about a group or other initiative promoting family literacy, email us at letters@tpr.org.
