Much has been said lately about “casual diversity,” or placing POC in children’s literature when the book is not about race. Books with brown characters are frequently about being brown, or more specifically, the burden of being brown. Do African American children only see themselves reflected in books about slavery and civil rights? Is the publishing industry, which is overwhelmingly white, willing to permit images of brown people in the books they create? The fact that this is even a discussion makes it painfully clear that white is the default setting in the children’s book industry. The writers and illustrators, the agents, the publishers and the reviewers are largely Caucasian. Lee and Low’s 2015 Diversity Baseline Survey (http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/) revealed that 89% of book reviewers are white, 82% of editors are white, and 86% of publishing executives are white. Clearly, white people are the gatekeepers here and hold much of the power in determining how POC are depicted in children’s literature. Kathleen T. Horning, director of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison, stated in her July 7, 2016 article in The Horn Book titled The Enduring Footprints of Peter, Ezra Jack Keats, and The Snowy Day http://www.hbook.com/2016/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/the-enduring-footprints-of-peter-ezra-jack-keats-and-the-snowy-day/: “Unfortunately, the times have not kept up with Ezra Jack Keats, and, in fact, a picture book with a young contemporary African American boy as its protagonist is almost as rare today as it was in 1962. To be sure, there are many more books about African Americans today than Larrick documented back when The Snowy Day was first published. But of the 269 titles about African Americans counted by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center in 2015, there were only eight picture books featuring contemporary African American boys. (Low though that number is, the good news is that it’s up considerably from 2012, fifty years after The Snowy Day’s publication, in which only two were documented.)” I find these statistics to be heartbreaking. The message sent by this sort of underrepresentation is one of invisibility and lack of value. At a portfolio review with a well-respected literary agent, I was asked the question “Why do you draw brown people?” I paused for a moment, surprised by the question. The agent, sensing my hesitation, quickly commented that drawing brown people is a good thing, something that the industry needs. His default setting as a white person was to question this representation, to indicate that the contents of my portfolio were not what he was accustomed to seeing. Rumaan Alam’s recent article on Nighlight, a pop-up blog from Slate, titled We Don’t Only Need More Diverse Books. We Need More Diverse Books Like The Snowy Day. expresses the desire as a parent of color to have books with brown characters that do not have brownness as the central conflict. http://www.slate.com/blogs/nightlight/2016/08/02/ezra_jack_keats_the_snowy_day_is_a_model_for_treating_black_characters_in.html “It’s not hard to find charmingly illustrated biographies of great Americans such as Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Gillespie and Barack Obama. It’s not hard to find black and brown faces in folk tales and fables from unfamiliar cultures. It’s not hard to find frank histories that use fiction to teach about fact, whether it’s the slave trade or the struggle for civil rights. It’s not hard to find storybooks with the noble aim of teaching our children that their skin, their hair, their noses are beautiful.” Corduroy by Don Freeman (1968) and The Snowy Day are used as examples of what Mr. Alam would like to see more of: “Must every book featuring black faces force our children to confront the tortures of our past and the troubles of our present? These are important things that our black and brown children must learn—but they must also learn the pleasure of reading a story in the relaxed, quiet moments before bed, reading not to learn but to feel safe, feel loved, laugh, wonder. That’s a fundamental privilege of childhood and should not be reserved for only one set of children.” The idea of white privilege including seeing oneself reflected in books that create a safe space and contribute to a carefree childhood is something that all people in the children’s literature industry need to be aware of. Books are mirrors and windows, so not only are books that tell brown children that their race is a problem impacting brown children, these books are impacting white children who only see brown people depicted as victims and brown skin as a problem to be overcome. Some recent picture books that feature brown characters in a manner that does not address race as a burden include Excellent Ed by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016). Excellent Ed is a book about a dog named Ed who doubts his own excellence in a family of high achievers. Every single member of the Ellis family has skills and talent, and Ed is a bit less skilled and less talented. The Ellis family is a brown family. The text does not mention this fact, but they are African American and they are adorable. Excellent Ed has the charm and appeal of The Snowy Day; it also shares a very natural and non-problematic placement of an African American family in a story that is not about being African American. More-igami by Dori Kleber and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Candlewick, 2016) is another book that features multiple races, but is not about race. The text is specifically written with race in mind, with characters named Sarah Takimoto and Mr. Lopez. The book makes references to Japanese culture with the topic of origami and to Latino culture with a Mexican restaurant, so it has a much more deliberate feel as far as the racial inclusivity is concerned. Dori Kleber made choices to include several races in More-igami. I prefer the seamlessness of Excellent Ed, where the race of the Ellis family doesn’t feel forced in any way. By naming the characters and naming the restaurant, Ms. Kleber is making us aware of her deliberate choices. She checked off four boxes by including four different races in a book that’s not about race. What picture books have you seen lately that haven’t defaulted to white? Which books pull it off without self-consciousness? What race are the authors and illustrators, and does this matter? For next month's post and moving forward, please send me questions and topics that you would like to discuss that involve libraries, books, diversity, and the children's literature community. fifiabuillustration@gmail.com Fifi Abu spends her days surrounded by books that have already been created and the rest of her time writing and illustrating books yet to be born. She looks forward to a day when all children can see themselves reflected in the books they read. Ms. Abu holds a master's degree in children's literature and a master's degree in library science, is an active member of SCBWI and a Children's Book Academy graduate. www.fifiabu.com
14 Comments
Rita D. Russell
8/17/2016 04:32:18 pm
Thank you so much for this fantastic post! Far too many folks in the children's book publishing industry (agents, editors, and writers & illustrators, too) have a very limited view of diversity, perhaps because diversity is not a meaningful part of their lives, and therefore they can't even "imagine" stories featuring people of color unless those stories are heavily rooted in cultural and ethnic issues. Hopefully, the day will come when the value of a story isn't measured primarily through the lens of its appeal to white people, but rather its appeal to ANYONE who loves a good story.
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Rita D. Russell
8/17/2016 04:33:37 pm
Thank you so much for this fantastic post! Far too many folks in the children's book publishing industry (agents, editors, and writers & illustrators, too) have a very limited view of diversity, perhaps because diversity is not a meaningful part of their lives, and therefore they can't even "imagine" stories featuring people of color unless those stories are heavily rooted in cultural and ethnic issues. Hopefully, the day will come when the value of a story isn't measured primarily through the lens of its appeal to white people, but rather its appeal to ANYONE who loves a good story.
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Rita D. Russell
8/17/2016 04:35:54 pm
Bravo, Fifi!!! Thank you so much for this fantastic post! Far too many folks in the children's book publishing industry (agents, editors, and writers & illustrators, too) have a very limited view of diversity, perhaps because diversity is not a meaningful part of their lives, and therefore they can't even "imagine" stories featuring people of color unless those stories are heavily rooted in cultural and ethnic issues. Hopefully, the day will come when the value of a story isn't measured primarily through the lens of its appeal to white people, but rather its appeal to ANYONE who loves a good story.
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Carol
8/17/2016 04:48:16 pm
Thanks for writing this great post! I agree wholeheartedly that the full spectrum of our humanity and experiences deserves telling to wide and colorful audiences. Thanks again!
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Shirin
8/17/2016 06:40:20 pm
Just what we needed! Thank you Fifi!
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8/18/2016 11:23:26 am
A great article...though I may be biased as RLM is the agent for EXCELLENT ED author Stacy McAnulty and illustrator Julia Sarcone-Roach. Client Kate Berube also illustrated a book recently by debut author Curtis Manley called, THE SUMMER NICK TAUGHT HIS CATS TO READ. It falls into the same category of having a protagonist of color but the book not being about race. The only struggle presented is Nick trying to get his cats - one, a rather reluctant convert - to read. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100222715772622&set=a.568407888892.2092302.2102995&type=3&theater
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Fifi Abu
8/21/2016 08:10:01 am
I'm very excited about The Summer Nick Taught his Cats to Read!
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Lori
8/29/2016 09:45:49 am
(Can you just read this rather than post it? Do you have a copy? I can see about getting a review copy out to you. Just send your contact info to my email address, above.)
Debbie Yasaki
8/19/2016 04:12:01 am
Thank you for this wonderful article, Ms. Abu. When my children were of picture book age, I struggled to find stories with characters of color where race was not the main issue. It's exciting to see that these types of stories are more prevalent now. While I agree with you that "seamless" stories such as EXCELLENT ED are ideal, I would like to offer that perhaps Dori Kleber did not include several races in MORE-IGAMI to "check off four boxes," but because these reflect the neighborhood she lives in? I don't know Dori Kleber, but in my neighborhood I have a Latino family next door (and another down the street), an African-American family across the street, a few Asian families (including us) the rest being white families. I have a picture book manuscript with a variety of "ethnic" names in it because that is what my neighborhood looks like, not because I felt I had to complete a diversity "check in the box." Just something to think about when reading books with diversity that seem "more deliberate/forced" than those ideal seamless ones. I hope that there are many more books to come of all the diverse varieties. :-)
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Debbie Yasaki
8/19/2016 04:12:21 am
Thank you for this wonderful article, Ms. Abu. When my children were of picture book age, I struggled to find stories with characters of color where race was not the main issue. It's exciting to see that these types of stories are more prevalent now. While I agree with you that "seamless" stories such as EXCELLENT ED are ideal, I would like to offer that perhaps Dori Kleber did not include several races in MORE-IGAMI to "check off four boxes," but because these reflect the neighborhood she lives in? I don't know Dori Kleber, but in my neighborhood I have a Latino family next door (and another down the street), an African-American family across the street, a few Asian families (including us) the rest being white families. I have a picture book manuscript with a variety of "ethnic" names in it because that is what my neighborhood looks like, not because I felt I had to complete a diversity "check in the box." Just something to think about when reading books with diversity that seem "more deliberate/forced" than those ideal seamless ones. I hope that there are many more books to come of all the diverse varieties.
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Fifi Abu
8/21/2016 08:07:11 am
I also live in a racially mixed neighborhood; while I adore the variety of races represented in More-igami, I feel that a more seamless version would have relied on the illustrations to tell us who these characters are. The illustrations in More-gami are strong enough that it is clear to the reader that one family is African American, another is Asian, the restaurant is Mexican and the little girl with red hair is Caucasian.
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Mira
8/19/2016 12:01:55 pm
Awesome post Fifi. Thank you!
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Natinder Ferrer Manak
8/23/2016 02:31:21 am
Many of the rich historical books mentioned are integral, they remind us of movement and tell us of the many child heroes, amongst other. However, versatility in books for young children should be sought. Even if only through simple gestures, acceptance of diversity ought to have an inherent presence with in picture books, without the high probability of history or confliction being sewn in. In the following books ‘Sonya’s Chickens’ by Phoebe Wahl, ‘No Mirrors In My Nana’s House’ by Ysaye Barnwell, illustrated by Synthia Saint James ‘Come on, Rain!’ by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Jon J Muth ‘Red, Yellow, Blue, and a Dash of White, Too!’ by Charles George Esperanza, ‘The New Small Person’ by Lauren Child, ‘The Girl With A Parrot On Her Head’ by Daisy Hirst, to name but a few, continue to pave this movement in which diverse cultures are mirrored, through aesthetic language, and visuals. Still, this proposed and compelling topic that has been brought forward to our attention, reveals there is room and need, for more growth beyond the settled familiarity, diversity is commonly founded upon. Thank you for this post.
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Rebecca Smith
9/13/2017 10:56:15 am
Great column! Another picture book worth a mention is The Airport Book by Lisa Brown.
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