I recently stumbled upon an article entitled The Apartheid of Children’s Literature, an opinion piece in the NYT by author and illustrator Christopher Myers in March of 2014. The first sentence reads: “Of 3,200 children’s books published in 2013, just 93 were about black people, according to a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin.”

Myers explains this apartheid in children’s books has a huge impact, because books serve as maps that help kids navigate the world. If you are omitted or marginalized in books, you don’t have the maps you need – children’s books matter.

He goes on to explain that there is a “a gap in the much-written-about sense of self-love that comes from recognizing oneself in a text, from the understanding that your life and lives of people like you are worthy of being told, thought about, discussed and even celebrated.”

Can Diversity in Children’s Books Tackle Prejudice? begins by introducing 11 year old Marley Dias who said she was tired of reading about “white boys and their dogs.” So she launched a campaign #1000BlackGirlBooks to identify books with people of color as the protagonist. Talk about a role model, thank you Marley Dias!

If you’re looking for recommendations of books that reflect racial diversity paired with support in talking to your kids about race check-out Story Starters: “Story Starters uses children’s literature to give families the tools and support to talk about race and racism and to engage in family-centered social justice conversations and actions.”

Along with race, it matters how gender is represented in children’s books.  Books teach our kids important lessons — books are our maps. In a previous post I praised The Rabbit Listened as a book that helps teach empathy. There are now a plethora of children’s books with lessons on social and economic justice — I’ve referenced Innosanto Nagara (author of books for kids of the 99%) as an important source of these books.

There are now many books to choose from that help kids to challenge traditional gender roles, serving as a mirror for whomever our children are –  a boy who likes pink, a girl who doesn’t want to play princess, a child who doesn’t identify as either boy or girl or who is transgendered. A Google search will lead you to dozens of titles. Lori Duron who is the author of the award-winning book Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son shares 8 of her favorite books here: 8 Books That Teach Kids About the Fluidity of Gender and the Importance of Acceptance.

About these 8 books and the many other available Lori says: “My husband and I have been committed to showing our son positive examples of differently gendered people in literature. We’ve read the following books countless times and always encourage an open dialogue about what it means to be a boy, a girl, a human. More importantly, we use these books to teach about love, acceptance, equality, empathy, and the beauty of diversity. Read these books to your child to help them better understand their gender identity and be a better friend to the boy who has long hair and wears a skirt or the girl with the short spiked hair who only wears pants.”

What books do you read your littles that represents and celebrates diversity?