Books Matter

Anyone who has ever read to or with a child knows books leave lasting impressions. Beyond the educational benefits, books have the power to instill empathy, affirm, teach, transport and inspire action. Books matter.

Unfortunately, there is often a lack of diversity in children’s books. Although children of color make up about 40% of the population, recent statistics show that the number of children’s books featuring people of color has been around 10% for the past several years (Stechyson, 2019). Other types of diversities including ability, socioeconomic status, and LGBT people and families are also lacking. There has been an acknowledgment of this problem and an outcry in the education and literature worlds to address it. There is growing awareness but change is slow. In recent years, there has been a lot of attention given to the diversity of children’s books, shining a light on the lack of diversity and amplifying the need for more children’s and young adult literature that reflect our multicultural society.

Books have the power to teach children about aspects of life for which they are unfamiliar. They can shed light on people who are different in a myriad of ways, religion, family structure, ability, race, or country of origin. In small and big ways, books can illuminate differences between people and reveal how bias is sometimes caused by misunderstanding (Anti-Defamation League, 2015).

My collage is an array of diverse children literature, because I feel this is an non-invasive way to promote anti-bias education. All children need to see themselves and their peers in the stories shared and discussed at school. Once children see themselves represented in books, their existence is validated, and they feel that they are part of the world (Eric Velasquez, n.d. as cited McDonald, 2021). Children of color need diverse books because they frequently do not see themselves reflected in literature and thus feel marginalized, if not completely invisible. White children need diverse books because they see too much of themselves in literature and may believe they are the center of the universe (McDonald, 2021).

References

Anti-Defamation League. (2015 February 19).The power of children's literature. https://www.adl.org/blog/books-matter-the-power-of-childrens-literature

McDonald, J. (2021). Diversity in children's literature: Check your blind spot, part 2. https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/blog/diversity-in-childrens-literature-check-your-blind-spot-part-2/

Stechyson, N. (2019 July 21). Kids books still have a lack-of-diversity problem, powerful image shows. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/diversity-kids-books-statistics_l_61087501e4b0497e67026f1c