Equity & Inclusion Resources for Writers and Illustrators

List of Resources on Diversity:

• Straight Talk on Race, by Mitali Perkins: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books: “Here are five questions that’ll help you and your students discern messages about race in stories.”

http://www.slj.com/2009/04/standards/straight-talk-on-race-challenging-the-stereotypes-in-kids-books/

• We Need Diverse Books: Resources for individuals and groups involved in many levels of children’s publishing

www.diversebooks.org

• Cooperative Children’s Book Center: Children’s Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States.

http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp

• School Librarian Talks to Students About ‘Whitewashing’ Children’s Book Covers, by Allie Bruce: A librarian discusses how a question from a student led to a series of conversations about the representation of race on book covers.

http://www.slj.com/2014/05/diversity/bank-street-school-librarian-shares-her-year-long-lesson-in-diversity-in-childrens-books/#_

• We need more diverse YA book covers, by Annie Schutte: A discussion with examples of book that do not show the diverse characters on the cover.

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/12/10/it-matters-if-youre-black-or-white-the-racism-of-ya-book-covers/

• The Danger of a Single Story, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A Ted Talk on why no culture can be represented by one story.https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
• Reading While White—Allies for Racial Diversity and Inclusion in Books for Childrens and Teens.  http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Celebrating Our Diversity:

• Inclusion on the Bookshelf, By Camille Jackson: “The lives of children with disabilities are adventurous, funny, romantic and active. There are many books available that contain characters with disabilities, but few that truly embrace social inclusion.”
  http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/feature/inclusion-bookshelf
• Seeing Ourselves and Seeing Others in the Pages if the Books we Read, by Jess Lifshitz: “[E]very single child that walks through my classroom door deserves to see himself or herself in a book in my library.  And every single child that walks through my classroom door deserves a chance to learn about others in this world from the books in my library.”

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/seeing-ourselves-and-seeing-others-in-the-pages-of-the-books-we-read-by-jess-lifshitz/

• Suggested Reading for the ALSC Day of Diversity http://dia.ala.org/dayofdiversity
• American Indians in Children’s Literature (book reviews and recommendations): “provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children’s and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society.”

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

• February is African American History Month by Sandy Brehl: African American characters and themes should be shared all year long, not just during February as part of Black History Month activities.

http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-so-special-about-february.html

• Five Gay Picture-Book Prodigies and the Difference They’ve Made, by Barbara Bader: Diverse creators Maurice Sendak, Arnold Lobel, James Marshall, Remy Charlip, and Tomie dePaola who’s brilliance and prodigy status shaped the direction of kid lit- for the better. http://www.hbook.com/2015/03/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/five-gay-picture-book-prodigies-and-the-difference-theyve-made/

Craft:

• Writing inclusion isn’t about representing as many different things as possible, it is about readers finding a space for themselves in our stories, by Cory Silverberg: “Inclusion creates a space for them to explore not only multiple parts of their experience but also how those experiences are woven together in their bodies and lives.”

http://www.cbcdiversity.com/post/62266305253/checking-boxes-and-filling-blanks-diversity-and

• Writing With Color: A blog dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial & ethnic diversity. We share writing advice, guides, book recs. and more.

http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/95955707903/skin-writing-with-color-has-received-several

• Describing Skin Tone, by WriteWorld: A discussion and list of resources. http://writeworld.org/post/55657925946/describing-skin-tone
• Ableism/Language, by Lydia X. Z. Brown: A glossary of Ableist Phrases http://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html
• Racism Begins in our imagination: by Grisel Y Acosta : “We’d like to imagine that racism is only created with extreme acts, like bombs or chains. The truth is racism begins in our imagination. It begins with our stories.”

http://www.salon.com/2015/02/22/racism_begins_in_our_imagination_how_the_overwhelming_whiteness_of_boyhood_feeds_dangerous_hollywood_myths/

• We Write Diversely. We Fail. We Write Again. By Katherine Memmel: An author’s discussion about writing diversely and how she did it wrong.

http://scwrite.blogspot.com/2015/11/katherine-memmel-we-write-diversely-we.html?showComment=1446500272259#c4658596045496291821