Superheroes Love Pizza Hut

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“Once upon a time there was X-Men.

And they was friends.

And the bad guys was mean.

And the X-Men went to Pizza Hut”

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(I just discovered the fancy button to make the horizontal lines, so expect it in every blog)

Back in my days spent on the elementary school playgrounds, I knew that whatever I watched on television affected what play time revolved around, but I was too young to realize any differences between assigning characters based on race or gender. In fact, I do not believe that kids, at least in my friend group, did not really care about those factors, considering I claimed the role of Ash one too many times with the hopes of having my own Pokémon. Upon reading this book, it was quite evident that the boys and girls of the classroom were very aware of each person’s gender in their Author’s Theatre presentations. Sammy was an advocate of sticking to the correct genders and Tina was a mini feminist, demanding to change how much girls get to participate in the more fun, “boy” roles.

What my group talked about was how much of children’s literacy was affected by popular television shows and advertisements. We also touched on how those shows were creating unintentional gender and racial stereotypes, giving the boys the action packed parts while the girls were always the damsels in distress. Their presentations revolved around what was popular, showing how easily children can conform to what their peers deem acceptable.

I did not know how much television and gaming could enhance a child’s literacy, but after reading this book, I realized it within my own brothers, Scott and Travis. I often get phone calls telling me about new books they are reading and writing with the majority of them revolving around the topics of Minecraft, Pokémon, and Angry Birds. Travis, who is a little behind in his reading and writing development, has enhanced his own literacy by learning how to read and write the names of different Angry Bird characters. Similar to the children in Writing Superheroes, Travis has mended his learning process around what is popular within his age group. My stepmother has also recognized that he would rather spend time learning about these characters and has somewhat mended his learning time around what he watches and reads for fun.

It is weird to me to think that learning about Ninja Turtles liking pizza might enhance a child’s literacy, but it is shown with the progression of the classroom going from second to third grade. Both Sammy and Tina’s stories got longer and a little more grammatically correct. All in all, Writing Superheroes enhanced my own knowledge regarding literacy because I learned that literacy can come from whatever sparks one’s interest.