It has been twenty nine years since rudine sims bishop s seminal essay mirrors windows and sliding glass doors was published.
Mirrors windows and sliding glass doors theory.
In the essay dr.
Bishop coined the phrase windows mirrors and sliding glass doors to explain how children see themselves in books and how they can also learn about the lives of others through literature.
Speaking to the lack of children s books with african american characters and themes the essay called for books to act as windows and mirrors that would allow all children to see themselves and the experiences of others in what they read.
These windows are also sliding glass doors and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author.