Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Hey, We Need More Latino Books ... and More
Popping back on the Fire Escape to share a table we compiled in my month-long course on "Race, Culture, and Power in Children's Books" at Saint Mary's College of California. We'd love to hear your responses to and thoughts about this data. (Thanks, US Census and CCBC!)
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8 comments:
It would be great to have YA and children's books more accurately reflect the diversity in the country. I enjoy reading such books, and I especially enjoy reading scifi and fantasy books (where it seems the diversity is even lower) with diverse characters and points of views.
I like seeing the way different cultures are all equally human, while representing different perspectives and showing that there is not one way of being, but many ways.
Wow -- that is really striking. Thank you so much for posting this survey. I live in Hawaii, which has a much different ethnic makeup than the rest of the country. I am so proud that local Hawaii publishers of children's books, including my publisher, Island Heritage, feature a diversity of characters who are Asian, Pacific-Islander or more than one ethnic group -- just like the real people of Hawaii! Just another reason why we think Hawaii is "no ka oi" -- the best!
Thank you for sharing. I'd be interested in knowing what percentage of "ethnic" books highlight social problems as opposed to novels with characters that are not diverse.
I knew there was a big gap, but it's exponential!
This is important information, Mitali. Good for you for teaching your college students to research what is necessary to know about books. There is also a need for more narrative informational texts, given the new Common Core Standards, informing students about real-life global experiences.
Thanks for the chart. I'm picturing the SCBWI national conference, which is full of white librarians and teachers who want to write children's books. (Most of them are women.) I think the only American Indian I've seen there was guest speaker Sherman Alexie. The number of black and Asian attendants is a little better, but still a striking minority. How exactly do we change that?
Yes, very interesting and challenging. These are definitely figures that need to be shouted about. Exponential indeed.
We definitely need more cultural diversity in literature. We have a diverse school population here in the SF Bay Area. Reading to kids in classrooms, I've witnessed when illustrations of people of color grab kids' attention - namely, grab the attention OF THE KIDS OF COLOR. They hunger for that identification. Does it make them feel like they belong in the world of literature, that their culture is worthy of respect and literary attention? You bet! If they continue to grow up with more and more examples of their culture in literature, will they be eager to read more? I bet they will. I'm happy to have your books to introduce to young readers.
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