Diversity Matters
When I was a little girl growing up in 1960s London, England — yes, I’m that old — I loved books. I devoured them. But diversity in children’s literature? It simply didn’t exist. The only picture book I remember reading as a child featuring a person of colour was Little Black Sambo — one of the most patronizing children’s books ever written. I’ll never forget my mother tossing it onto the table in disgust, rolling her eyes as if to say, well, at least she’s reading. We’ll worry about the rest later. Searching for Representation By the time I was eight, I had stopped reading picture books and moved on to full-text storybooks. But even then, I was still looking for something more — representation. I didn’t have the language for it yet, but I wanted to see people like me. Or unlike me. People who lived, led, struggled, people who mattered. So, I began to explore: fables, legends, folk tales from around the world, West Africa, Native America, Ireland, Norway. The...