The need is not being met.

For a quick breakdown, out of the 3,716 books they surveyed, here are the percentages of main characters: When looking at books featuring characters that were written and/or illustrated by authors and/or illustrators of the same race, here are those breakdowns: From the CCBC post about the findings, Madeline Tyner writes, “Despite slow progress, the number of books featuring BIPOC protagonists lags far behind the number of books with white main characters—or even those with animal or other characters.

And how many manuscripts were received from white writers, and how many have been chosen for publication?”. We also have our annual New Voices and New Visions Award which is given to writers of color and Native Nations. I will try again now. (If you locate yesterday’s submission, there’s no reason to put it up if this one goes up).

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This year shows that number is steadily increasing, hitting 31% – now the highest year on record since 1994. And if any other editors like RDS, at other publishing houses, can weigh in anonymously on their own submissions, that would be great. Also, are publishers putting Black creators in a box, only accepting stories about Black pain (oppression, civil rights, etc.)

I tried to comment yesterday; maybe it was lost in the shuffle.

In "Interviews with Authors and Illustrators". You can find the submission guidelines here (we’re open for submissions now)! Imagine a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book. This year, for the first time, they also counted books by and about Pacific Islanders.

While there has been some progress, there is much more that needs to be done in diversity in children’s and YA literature. As an aspiring writer of color, this is still so discouraging, and I hope that as I write my first book, that my characters and people will be inspired to write more books. The report breaks down the number of children’s and YA books by and about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) from the previous year. CCBC has noted that 20% of children’s books are not about people at all. Publishers are not seeking out those stories.

This holds especially true when it comes to kids learning about differences ― different races, different religions, different abilities and more. All are Welcome, written by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Need suggestions for awesome and diverse kid lit?

Can you provide any information on how to support getting books into public school libraries? The CCBC has also recognized that in future reports, they will be adding Arabs/Arab Americans to their findings. Just 11 percent … I don’t think there is any evidence of that. Taken together, books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. Jalissa, thank you for the response, but that data is not what I’m asking. It has an Asian author, hearing impaired European illustrator, and characters that come from all over the world.

This is interesting to read. I think the point is that we still have a long way to go. As the CCBC begins to track books with LGBTQIA+ content, we hope to see more LGBTQ+ characters of color and more intersectionality in regards to characters of color with disabilities.

When Lena and her mom take a walk through their neighborhood, she notices that there are many different shades of brown skin, and she begins to see her familiar world in a new way. Contact us for permission to reprint. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. Not much has changed since last year when Black, Latinx, and Native authors combined wrote just 6% of new children’s books published. Christy Hale, John Coy, & Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen at One Potato… Ten. The author wrote the book for her daughter, Lena, who … (Also, Kind of a Note to a Guy.) Other #ownvoices books by other cultural groups aren’t much better; 39% of books about Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific Americans were created by Asian Pacific creators; 53% of books with Native content/characters were written/illustrated by Native creators. I wondered also whether Lee and Low might share its own data on that front. Home We Need Diverse Books™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people. It seems like the message of this infographic and blog post is that there will never be equity in children’s publishing until and unless there is authorship on a de facto numerus clausus basis.That is, representation of authorship of children’s/YA books in more or less exact proportion to the population percentage of American whites, African-Americans, Latinx, Caribbean, East Asian, South Asian, Muslim North African, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, each letter of LBTQIA+, gender, etc. We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through the use of cookies and similar technologies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. 31% of all books by or about people of color and those from Native nations? A blog on race, diversity, education, and children's books. We're giving away a $250 gift card to Barnes and Noble.

I’m a long-time children’s book editor, and while of course I can’t speak to the whole industry, in my experience and that of the other editors I know personally, there’s never been an instance of choosing a white author’s story about a person of color over a story actually written by a person of color, which is what the language above implies.

So, why is this? KT Horning is quoted as saying there’s a “particular resistance” to allowing African American writers to tell their own stories, and later this article uses the phrasing “why are we still giving preference to white authors telling diverse stories.” I’m very curious to hear what evidence is being cited here that indicates publishers are seeing both own-voices authors and white authors but choosing the white authors.

Only 4% of all the children’s books published in the UK last year featured a … The upshot is that if a person is an author and a member of a racial, ethnic, religious, or other group that has been significantly overrepresented in the past in the number of manuscripts accepted for publication, watch out. Providing opportunities and grants and opportunities for POC and other diverse groups to access writing programs, publishing industry etc is needed because children need to see themselves and all of their experiences represented in books. And if publishers are not receiving diverse submissions, what efforts are they making to diversify their submission pool?

Diversity remains an ever-evolving topic in publishing when it comes to books as well as the diversity among the authors and illustrators creating them. We hope the numbers look much better next year! In February, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) released its statistics on the number of children’s books by and about people of color published in 2017.

Access and opportunity are a huge part of the conversation, and if there are significantly fewer submissions by creators of color, there could possibly be a systemic issue behind that. But change will only happen when publishing recognizes that equity is crucial, that the world is rapidly changing, and that creators of color deserve the chance to have their voices heard too. What I’m asking is, “At Lee and Low for the last 12 months, how many manuscripts were received from people of color, and how many have been chosen for publication? Starting in 2014, the number of diverse books being published increased substantially. The 2019 Diversity Baseline Survey Results | Lee & Low Blog, Why We Still Need More Diverse Children’s Books - Multicultural Kid Blogs, 13 children’s books I read to my kids to help foster empathy and acceptance – Hobbit History, 13 children’s books I read to my kids to help foster empathy and acceptance – Viral News Today, 13 children's books I read to my kids to help promote empathy and acceptance - billions books, Tackling the Challenges of Implementing Diverse Libraries at Your School | Lee & Low Blog, Sharing the love of Multicultural Books via Classroom Donations - Multicultural Children's Book Day, Get the Most Out of Reading to Your Kids (Five Things You’re Already Doing Right—Plus a Few Things to Try!

Anonymous May 11, it is not misleading, because the post author’s point is that–under the general subject of “we need diverse books”–white people writing about people of color provides only a semblance of diversity.

A comme militant: pourquoi les livres pour enfants se politisent | Livres - ecrire un livre en anglais - Comment écrire un livre ? Like last year and many of the years before, the majority of books (diverse or not) are still written by white authors.

There aren't enough diverse children's books on the shelves, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, which updated its data on representation this month. It’s great that the number of diverse books continues to increase, but we’re still left with similar questions from last year: We’re looking forward to the day creators of color will be able to tell their own stories and be given the same opportunities to write stories with animal characters or talking inanimate objects that white authors are given. To encourage conversations about race and diversity with your children, check out this list of children's books to read together as a family.

Are publishers providing equal access and opportunities to POC creators as they do white creators?

represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.” While there has been some progress, there is much more that needs to be done in diversity in children’s and YA literature. Here are a couple of statistics for you, courtesy of The Bookseller: 32.1% of pupils of compulsory school age in England are of minority ethnic origins. We wrote about this phenomenon back in 2015, and the numbers haven’t changed much since then. Diversity remains an ever-evolving topic in publishing when it comes to books as well as the diversity among the authors and illustrators creating … Diversity in children’s books is a real problem.