Diversity in Children's Literature

While awareness of diversity has greatly increased over the last few years, representation of people diversity in and related to children’s literature has minimally  increased,  from 9% to 22% (NPR 2017). The 22% included not only characters, but also authors and illustrators of color. While 38% of the United States’ population are people of diverse backgrounds, children’s literature clearly does not meet the needed and wanted representation of the many children and cultures that make up the United States population (US Census).

Although this number represents a certain level of progress from years gone by, it still falls significantly below the corresponding percentages within the U.S. population as reported by the census (Ting, 2015). A similarly concerning finding by William and Deyoe (2014) outlines that when it comes to representing diversity, a high number of libraries have almost no diversity in their children’s collections while others have a significant collection of diverse materials. What’s perhaps most concerning about this finding however, is that even the libraries that are considered to have a “significant” collection, don’t even come close to representing the diversity in America’s population.

These findings clearly show that there is a serious issue with underrepresentation of diverse cultures in our children’s collections. They also reflect the pressing need for libraries to address the issue of diversity and inclusion in their children’s collections and advocate for the purchasing of children’s books that are truly representative of the diverse populations that they are serving. However, while this may sound good in theory, Ting (2015) points out that this task is a lot easier said than done for librarians because the reality is that it is an uphill battle trying to find suitable books that represent diverse populations. This dilemma may help to shed light on the idea that in order to solve the issue of diversity and inclusion in children’s materials, it will be necessary to gain insights into the potential root causes of this problem.  

In his 2014 National Book Festival speech, Gene Luen Yang, the much-heralded comic book writer, provided eye-opening insight regarding one reason why diversity in children’s literature has not yet become the norm. “We’re afraid of writing characters different from ourselves because we’re afraid of getting it wrong…. This fear can be a good thing if it drives us to do our homework, to be meticulous in our cultural research” (Yang, 2014). Resources abound, from sensitivity readers to diversity-promoting organizations, to help smooth the emotional process of incorporating multiple ethnic groups into literature. It is just one step in the process of creating and distributing diverse books, but allowing writers and illustrators “the freedom to make mistakes, including cultural mistakes, in [their] first drafts” permits risk-taking (Yang, 2014). It permits them to think and consider and learn and rework and develop new perspectives—all of which just happen to be the tenets of developing a society of diversity and inclusion.

Image retrieved from: Amazon

Progress, although slow, is becoming more apparent. Currently, a picture book called  Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts Abrams, featuring a little girl of color, is in the Top Ten Children’s Books of the New York Times Bestsellers list (NY Times, 2017). In a 2016 interview with National Public Radio, a senior editor for Penguin Putnam Young Readers, Stacey Barney stated, “one of the most important things about literature — particularly literature consumed by children and young adults — is that it helps young people learn to look beyond their own personal experiences (NPR, 2017).” Barney sees reading books with children of color and written by authors of color as having two distinct purposes, making diverse children’s literature important for all kids around the world. Without diverse literature, many children will not have the opportunity to see themselves or connect with characters and stories on a personal level. The lack of diverse children’s literature also prevents children learning about people, cultures, and histories that are not their own and developing respect for their differences and sameness.

Diversity in children’s books is more than just seeing pictures of children of color on the cover. To truly give representation to the children and people around the world, diverse children’s books need characters that reflect the variety of details that make up who children are around the world. Librarians and educators are seeing that kids are looking for characters that, not only look like them, but also talk, make choices, and connect to the world like they do (Rich, 2012). Children need books that have characters that speak their language, represent their family history, and address the struggles that are specific to their experience. To have a diverse children’s collection is to have characters for children from different cultures and backgrounds to see themselves in. With a diverse collection that reflect the many children of the world, more kids are likely to pick up a book, maintain interest, and finish reading it (Rich, 2012).