Sara K. Sterner

WHY IT MATTERS:

• 10 Reasons to Read Diversely from Lee & Low Books

• We need Diverse Books, And How a post from Jerrold Connord plotting the data from the 2015 CCBC Statsitics and the infographic from Sarah Park Dahlen's #DiversityJedi Team

• How using Diverse Books with Common Core is powerful by K. Imani Tennyson

• Get to know Marley Dias - the young activist who founded #1000BlackGirlBooks

  • A wonderful interview on NPR | Article from The Guardian

  • Want to send books her way? Here's how.

  • She has now paired with Elle Magazine to have her own online zine: Marley Mag.

• The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child's Bookshelf by Grace Lin, TEDxNatick

• The Bury Your Gays Trope Hurts Real Queer People & It Needs to End a great article by Alaina Leary about how tropes (common literary cliches of sorts) can do real damage to real people

• A very salient  illustration/visual metaphor of why we need diverse books! Posted by author Shannon Hale via Timemachineyeah Tumblr.

• Every child deserves to be the hero of their own story - a video from #WNDB where authors share why #WeWriteforYou

• Children's Books as a Radical Act from Reflection Press, an excellent small press

  • Free Teacher Resources

• More to come...

GET STARTED:

• CBC Diversity - A Branch of the Children's Book Council

• Cooperative Children's Book Center (often called the CCBC) - University of Wisconsin-Madison

• • Read their blog

  • In addition to being a wonderful resource, the CCBC is known for compiling statistics about representation in children's literature each year ​both by gathering data on the authors and illustrators who write the books as well as the protagonists who star in them.

    • Here are the most recent statistics about books published in 2015​. The link shares the process by which a visual of the statistics was made by Sarah Park Dahlen and her team of #DiversityJedis. It is not a positive picture of representation of POC/Indigenous protagonists. Sarah posted a follow up post about the infographic which includes scholarly considerations about the current statistics and the images itself.

• Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Book - Teaching for Change Books

  • Here is a slightly different version from The Council on Interracial Books for Children: 10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism 

    • NOTE: While the title of this document suggests that is it possible to review books quickly for racism and sexism, this list should be considered as a starting place for anaysis. Racism and sexism like other destructive -isms are pervasive, often nuanced, both overt and covert, systemic, and exceedingly complex and it would be hard to quickly determine their presence in a book in just one reading.

• Joyful Diversity List - Books that celebrate joyful moments and accomplishments of People of Color/Indigenous People

• Library Booklists - Diverse fiction for children - a list of lists

• Magic-in-Every-Book - an amazing list of resources for finding POC protagonists

• MirrorsWindowsDoors - Celebrating Diversity in a Whole World of Children's and YA Literature

• More Color in Kids' Lit: Your Picks - NPR solicited its listeners to share titles. This is the list they made.

• Multicultural Children's Book Day - Check out their Reading Resources Page

• Reading While White - "We are White librarians organizing to confront racism in the field of children’s and young adult literature."  

  • We are allies in the ongoing struggle for authenticity and visibility in books; for opportunities for people of color and First/Native Nations people in all aspects of the children’s and young adult book world; and for accountability among publishers, book creators, reviewers, librarians, teachers, and others.

• Rich in Color - "...is dedicated to reading, reviewing, talking about, and otherwise promoting young adult books (fiction and non-fiction) starring or written by People of Color or people from First/Native Nations."

• Statistics of Authors/Illustrators/Representations of POC in Books Published in 2015

• Stereotypes and Tropes - Listing of common stereotypes and tropes used in writing about POC to be aware of and avoid in the book choices you make- from Writing with Color

• Teaching for Change Books - "...provides teachers and parents with the tools to transform schools into centers of justice where students learn to read, write, and change the world."

• Teaching Tolerance Classroom Resources Page - Many book activities. Easy to search by topic and your reader's need/interests/age

• Teaching Love in Action - Children’s Literature to Promote Hope and Counter Fear from The Classroom Bookshelf

• We Need Diverse Books Campaign

  • Founder Ellen Oh's interview with the Washington Post

• We're the People - Great Book lists with diverse protagonists and experiences from a collection of bloggers, librarians, and authors. Their tag line: Because summer reading should be for ALL the people.

• Writing with Color - A Tumblr dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial & ethnic diversity

• More to Come

Own Voices Defined: A popular hashtag created by author Corinne Duyvis as a shorthand for books with authentic representations of diverse characters that are written by people who have those identities.

• American Indians in Children's Literature - Debbie Reese

• American Indian Authors: #OwnVoices Representation - YAInterrobang Blog

• Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind - Terie Sabido

• Asian-American Children’s Books - list from InCultureParent

• Asian-American Children's Books - List from The Color of Us

• The Brown Bookshelf - A site designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers - Multiple authors

• Book Dragon - A Blog Hosted by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center  - Terry Hong

• Crazy QuiltEdi - Edith Campbell 

• Disability in Kid Lit - A site dedicated to discussing the portrayal of disability in middle grade and young adult literature - Multiple Authors

• Gay-themed Picture Books - Patricia A. Sarles

• Kitaab World - an independent online bookstore focused on the discovery and distribution of South Asian childrens' books, toys and games.

  • Counter Islamophobia through Stories campaign

• Latin@s in Kid Lit - Multiple Authors

• Poetry Round Up from Rich in Color

• Reading Spark - Sarah Park Dahlen

• YA with Muslim Girls - List from bookavid via WNDB

• Why Why Muslim Kids Need to See Themselves in Books, Too - An Interview with Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, the founder of MuslimGirl.com, about the imprint Saalam Reads.

• More to come...

#OWNVOICES

• Consider this discussion about Diversity in Book Awards.

  • Further discussion here.

• American Indian Youth Literature Award from the American Indian Library Association

• Arab American Book Award - a literary program created to honor books written by and about Arab Americans

• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - awarded to work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage

• Coretta Scott King Award - awarded to African-American Authors, Illustrators, and Experiences

• Latino Book Awards - 2016 List Here - awarded to Latin@ Authors, Illustrators, and Experiences (honors books in English, Spanish, and Portuguese)

• Middle East Book Awards - awarded to books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to understanding of the Middle East

• Pura Belpre Award - awarded to Latin@/Hispanic Authors, Illustrators, and Experiences

• Schneider Family Award - awarded to work that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.

• South Asia Book Awards - Awarded to call attention to outstanding works on South Asia

• Stonewall Children and Youth Award - awarded to LGTBQ+ authors and experiences (Youth Awards only given since 2010)

• Sydney Taylor Book Award -  presented to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience

• MORE TO COME

INCLUSIVE BOOK AWARDS

• An illustration of white privilege - via We Need Diverse Books Tumblr

• Can non-POC writers write POC Characters? Dylan Marron of Every Single Word shares his take

• Can you hear us now? by Edi Campbell

• Consider the role of social class in children's/YA lit with this great piece from The Guardian

• Dear White Writers - Tumbler Article by Ellen Oh

• Dear Ellen Oh - Fairrosa Cyber Library Response

• #OwnVoices: Why we Need Diverse Authors in Children's Lit - Brightly

• An illustration of white privilege - via We Need Diverse Books Tumblr

• When is YA going to shape up to body diversity? - from The Guardian

• Teacher/blogger (Crawling out of the Classroom) had her students analyze her classroom library to see how diverse it is. What a brilliant idea!! Follow her lead and read the post here!

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION - ARTICLES OF NOTE:

Small presses, self-publications and indie publishers can be an excellent place to find inclusive reads.

• Cinco Puntos Press (for Kids) - With roots on the U.S./Mexico border, Cinco Puntos publishes great books which make a difference in the way you see the world.

• Lee & Low Books - Multicultural Children's Literature - The largest multicultural children's book publisher in the country. We are also one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States, as well as a throwback to what many publishers used to be: independent, generational businesses in which the people running the company have a personal stake in its success. 

• Reflection Press - Reflection Press is an independent publisher of radical and revolutionary children’s books and works that expand cultural and spiritual awareness.

• Salina Bookshelf - Multicultural Publishing - Founded in 1994 is an independent publisher of multicultural materials which includes textbooks, children's picture books, children's chapter books, informational texts, reference books, audio books and language learning materials.

• MORE TO COME

All descriptions listed above are quoted directly from each press/publisher website.

SMALL PRESSES & INCLUSIVE PUBLISHERS