We NEED more diverse books! As a white female I honestly had not recognized that there was a lack of diverse books until I started my studies in college. I saw myself reflected in books and I did not think anything about how my friends from minorities were NOT seeing themselves reflected in books. I wish I could go back in time and ask them what they thought about that experience. While I can’t go back in time I did find this video featuring Matt de la Pena speaking with a group of students about why we need diverse books and diverse characters. Hearing these children answers the questions Matt asks is eye opening. We need diverse books so ALL students can see themselves reflected in stories but also for kids like me to experience other cultures and ideas besides my own.
While there is an increasing amount of diverse literature we need even more. The two infographics below show how improvements have been made but there is still significant remove for improvement as we move forward. Boyd, Causey, & Galda state, “there are still not enough books being published that are outside of the white, middle-class, heterosexual world” (2015, p. 380).
Boyd states “Multicultural literature in the overall English language arts curriculum… is a long overdue and positive change to the study of literature that offers teachers and students a more realistic reflection of society, history, eduction, and schools in the United States” (2003, p. 461). It is our job as educators to make that positive change happen in our classrooms, our schools, and our communities. Getting started may be challenging and a little out of your comfort zone but there are many resources to help educators find diverse books and plan for instruction in their classrooms. For example, the We Need Diverse Books campaign is a great resource, https://diversebooks.org/. The mission statement of the organization states, “Putting more books featuring diverse characters into the hands of all children.” They have two campaign videos from two different authors’ perspectives (Matt de la Pena and John Green) that really get at WHY we need diverse books. Check them out here and here. Other great resources are
School Library Journal - Diversity page
Award Winners and Nominees
These awards are specifically created to praise diverse books and diverse authors and illustrators: the Coretta Scott King Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the American Indian Youth Literature Award, the Asian Pacific American Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Schneider Family Book Award, the Batchelder Award, and the Stonewall Book Award.
*Other professionals’ blogs
*Another great resource is a table in an article titled Culturally Diverse Literature by Fenice B. Boyd, Lauren L. Causey, and Lee Galda. The table provides a springboard list of diverse authors and illustrators.
These resources are not an exhaustive list but will help you get started creating a diverse collection of engaging, high-quality books into your classroom, school, or library.
As we start introducing, reading, and engaging with these books in our classrooms we need to keep in mind an idea I heard about from novelist Chimamanda Adichie. She speaks in a Ted Talk about “The Danger of a Single Story.” When we read diverse books or learn about other places and people in mainstream media we need to beware that one story, one article, one picture does NOT define that entire population. We need to pull in multiple texts and perspectives to ensure that students do not generalize ideas. Intertextuality has to be incorporated into our teaching. This term was “coined in the 1960s by Kristeva, a semiotician and psychologist (Allen, 2011). The word itself comes from the Latin word intertexto, which means “to weave together” (King-Shaver, 2005, p. 1 as cited in Ciecierski, 2017, p. 285). Looking across and connecting texts is also in the Common Core State Standards which state, students must be able to “analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches authors take” (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010, p.10). There are four ways texts can connect which are as companion texts, corresponding texts, contradictory texts, and cluster texts (Ciecierski, 2017, pp. 286-289). Ciecierski discusses the importance of considering the ways in which the texts connect, the order in which you present them and then how teachers need to be purposeful in the way they use them in their lessons (2017). When we pull in multiple texts that are related we are helping our students grow academically and as people in a diverse world.
This Week’s Book Review: The Parker Inheritance
Amazing! I read this book in one sitting. The Parker Inheritance, written by Varian Johnson, is an upper elementary/middle grades novel about Candice and her new friend Brandon. Candice finds a letter that is addressed to her grandmother. In the letter there are clues to finding a hidden treasure. Her grandmother once tried to find the treasure but failed and was run out of town. With Brandon’s help, Candice plans to pick up where her grandmother left off and find the treasure. The book has two storylines, one set in the past and one in the present. Throughout the story many challenging topics including race, racial divide, sexual identity, diverse home lives, bullying and friendships are brought to the surface. The book requires thoughtful discussion while reading. The unique puzzle aspect was inspired by one of the author’s favorite books, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.
References
Ciecierski, L. M. (2017). What the common core state standards do not tell you about connecting texts. The Reading Teacher, 71 (3), 285-294.
Boyd, F.B. (2003). Experiencing things not seen: Educative events centered on a study of Shabanu. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 46 (6), 460-474.
Boyd, F. B., Causey, L. L., & Galda, L. (2015). Culturally diverse literature: Enriching variety in an era of common core state standards. The Reading Teacher, 46 (5), 378-387.
Huyck, David, Sarah Park Dahlen, Molly Beth Griffin. (2016 September 14). Diversity in Children’s Books 2015 infographic. sarahpark.com blog. Retrieved from https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/picture-this-reflecting-diversity-in-childrens-book-publishing/ Statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp
Released for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
Huyck, David and Sarah Park Dahlen. (2019 June 19). Diversity in Children’s Books 2018. sarahpark.com blog. Created in consultation with Edith Campbell, Molly Beth Griffin, K. T. Horning, Debbie Reese, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Madeline Tyner, with statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp. Retrieved from https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/picture-this-diversity-in-childrens-books-2018-infographic/.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards for English language arts and literacy in history/ social studies, science, and technical subjects. Washington, DC: Authors.