Diversity & Representation in Children’s Literature By: Paul Barnes
What’s The Big Deal? ● Children often gravitate towards those who look like them. They may feel bad because they are different and may even experience ● bullying or teasing. ● When a child can relate to a character they are going to enjoy the book more. ● When a child sees they are not the “only one” they feel better about being different ○ Or, they may be encouraged to embrace the fact they are the only one
The Numbers Statistics Statistics ● The CCBC analyzed around 3,700 books last year and of In 2016 the CCBC counted 427 ● those only 340 had significant books written or illustrated by African or African American people of color, out of about content/characters. 3,400 books it analyzed. ● The CCBC found that in 2017 a character in a picture book was 4 times more likely to be a dinosaur than an American Indian child.
Gaining A New Perspective ● When encountering the unfamiliar, children may have a variety of reactions Fear ○ ○ Judgement Curiosity ○ Children can learn from the illustrations of children that don’t look like them and see if they have seen anyone that looks the same in real life. Children will be exposed to things that happen in children’s homes that may not happen in theirs.
Seeing Themselves In The Story ● Children will identify with a character more when the character is just like them. This can help boost confidence or inspire the child ● ● Hair Like Mine: Young black girls who wear their natural may feel out of place among other children. Or, they may deal with children (and even teachers) wanting to touch their hair. They may feel bad because they don’t know anyone with hair like them but this book teaches them that this is something they should actually be proud of. Young black girls will be able to identify with the starring character and see she looks just like them. ● I’m New Here: Children who are new to learning English may feel left out because it takes them longer to understand lessons. It may be either they have trouble speaking, writing or just expressing how they feel with it. This book shows 3 children who go through just that and readers will see they aren’t alone and they will overcome the temporary blockage.
Seeing Their Family In The Story ● The first group of people children identify with and connect everything to is their own family. ● Seeing families unlike theirs exposes them to how differences in families are good ● We Are Family: This book showcases a variety of types of families including both interracial and same sex parents. Children often may feel elft out or odd when they find themselves in a family like this and this books shows them it is nothing to be ashamed of. ● This Is How We Do It: Children may think families from other parts of the world are “odd”. This book shows that while things are different they still have love and that is the most important thing.
Works Cited http://ccblogc.blogspot.com/2018/02/ccbc-2017-multicultural-statistics.html https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/02/17/515792141/authors-and-illustrat ors-of-color-accounted-for-22-percent-of-children-s-books
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