Reading the Kumon RRL Books Through Sustainable Development Goal 10
The Kumon Recommended Reading List (RRL) is a collection of books designed to foster a love of reading in students. These books allow students to learn about the world around them in both contemporary and historical contexts and open up their minds to discover what is important to them as they grow as individuals and members of their communities.
Since the release of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), educational organizations have been using the SDG principles as a context for literary analysis. This raises awareness of global issues and promotes critical thinking. Surveying the RRL books through an SDG lens shows that Kumon students can develop an awareness of the SDG principles at the just-right level. For instance, at Level 7A, a simple gardening story (The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss) may be enough to open the door to learning about several intersecting SDGs and understanding how even the youngest citizens can be integral to nurturing the health of the whole community. At C-20, Song for a Whale touches on SDG-4 Quality Education and SDG-14 Life Below Water, among many others.
It’s necessary to note that the books on the RRL were not written by the authors nor were they chosen by the Kumon Materials Team for the purpose of promoting the SDGs. However, several prominent themes in these books demonstrate that the quality of life and sustainability conditions addressed by the SDGs have long been concerns for many people. Literature has always been a catalyst for pricking society’s collective conscience and advocating for change where outdated policy and practice create difficult, or even disastrous, communal and personal situations.
The following is a sampling of RRL books with themes that coincide with SDG-10 Reduced Inequalities.
RRL 2A-20 The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds
Jerome collects all the words he hears and sees and keeps them in his scrapbooks. One day, a little mishap with his scrapbooks gives him a new understanding of how meaningful and powerful words can be. With this fresh perspective in heart, Jerome sets out to share his word collection with others. The themes in this story also coordinate with SDG-4 Quality Education.
RRL B-11 The William Hoy Story by Nancy Churnin
William Hoy loves baseball, and he is good enough for the pros! He is also deaf. This makes him subject to many unfair challenges: He’s offered less money than his teammates, he’s talked about behind his back, and he’s the subject of unkind jokes. Ironically, one of these jokes leads William to approach an umpire with a brilliant idea that helps change the game of baseball, and William goes on to set records in the major leagues! This true story reinforces the refusal to accept marginalization and wonderfully illustrates working towards reduced inequalities.
RRL F-10 Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
Crow has lived with Osh in a remote area of Cuttyhunk Island, ever since he found her as a baby. As Crow grows, she is mostly content to live a quiet life with him, and she enjoys the regular visits from Miss Maggie, their only friend. Yet, deep questions are never far from her mind: What is her real name? Why do the townspeople seem to be afraid of her? One night, Crow sees a mysterious campfire on Penikese Island, just across the water, and her curiosity awakens. The townspeople have suggested that Crow is from Penikese Island, but as far as she knows, it is deserted. Now, at twelve years old, Crow feels it’s time to learn the truth about her origin. Though the plot is fictional, this story draws inspiration from the real historical practice of stigmatizing and isolating people with certain medical conditions.
RRL G-13 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his “dead as a door-nail” former partner, Jacob Marley, and told to expect visits from three spirits who will give him a chance to change his ways and escape the fate of eternal unrest which he has been unwittingly securing for himself. This short Victorian classic is full of memorable characters that have endured up to today’s popular culture. Major themes include forgiveness, business ethics, and humanitarianism as part of everyone’s reasonable responsibility.
RRL I-2 Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac
Six-year-old Kii Yázhí has to leave the Navajo Reservation to attend an Indian boarding school. Though dreading the separation from family, he realizes he must go. His uncle has explained that learning “the ways of the bilagáanaa, the white people, is a good thing.” At school, Kii Yázhí is shocked to discover that he will be given an “English” name—Ned—and forbidden to speak Navajo. Ten years later, Ned enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps and is assigned to the top-secret duty of a “code talker.” As Ned risks his life on the frontlines, he demonstrates the indispensable value of his beloved native language, while serving the very country that tried to extinguish his culture. Though fiction, Code Talker is based on the true experiences of thousands of Indigenous children who were forced to attend boarding schools. The themes in this story also connect to SDG-4 Quality Education.
RRL L-8 Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley
July 20, 1969, was a defining day in American and world history. Neil Armstrong became the first “man” on the moon. However, hundreds of women, played imperative roles as “human computers,” helping to make Armstrong’s moon walk possible. These mathematicians calculated the complex formulas used in designing spacecrafts and flight paths. Hidden Figures spotlights the experiences of four African American women “computers” but exposes the challenges all women encountered in a field considered the territory of men: unequal pay for equal work and a lack of recognition and advancement opportunities. With underlying themes including civil rights, gender roles, work-life balance, and mental health, this story also connects to SDG-4 Quality Education among many other SDGs.
For more information on all the RRL books, explore the newly revised Annotated Bibliography on iKumon, featuring a synopsis of each title as well as author, title, and subject indexes for quickly locating a specific book.