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Friday, August 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Microaggressions: Those Small Acts that Pack a Big, Negative Punch
Guest post by children's librarian at Bank Street College of Education, Allie Jane Bruce.
More and more, the word “microaggression” is cropping up in the world of children’s literature. A “microaggression” —a term coined by Harvard professor Chester M. Pierce in 1970 — is a tiny act of bigotry. Examples include crossing the street when a dark-skinned stranger appears, giving a groan when the word “Feminism” comes up, or using “homo” as a synonym for “uncool” (Pierce used it to describe only race-related acts, but the word has evolved to encompass bigotry in general). Viewed individually, these acts are almost negligible; taken as a whole, they constitute an evolution of the very nature of bigotry, from overt, conscious and public bigotry to a more nebulous form that is hard to identify and even harder to acknowledge (Sue et al, 2007).
More and more, the word “microaggression” is cropping up in the world of children’s literature. A “microaggression” —a term coined by Harvard professor Chester M. Pierce in 1970 — is a tiny act of bigotry. Examples include crossing the street when a dark-skinned stranger appears, giving a groan when the word “Feminism” comes up, or using “homo” as a synonym for “uncool” (Pierce used it to describe only race-related acts, but the word has evolved to encompass bigotry in general). Viewed individually, these acts are almost negligible; taken as a whole, they constitute an evolution of the very nature of bigotry, from overt, conscious and public bigotry to a more nebulous form that is hard to identify and even harder to acknowledge (Sue et al, 2007).
We who work in the field of children’s literature—librarians, teachers, booksellers, authors, illustrators, bloggers, publishers—must be aware of microaggressions. We constantly read aloud, recommend books, and do everything in our power to turn kids into bookworms. As fervently as we extoll the benefits of reading, we must also consider whether the books we love confirm kids’ dignity and worth as human beings, in ways small and large.
What one person perceives as a microaggression may be a non-entity to another. At what point does an incident become a microaggression? What responsibility do I, as a librarian and teacher, have to filter out potentially harmful books? Is it better not to read something hurtful—or to read it, and then discuss it? These were questions with which I wrestled after a read-aloud incident a few months ago.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Industry Q&A with editor Phoebe Yeh
Please tell us about the most recent diverse book you published.
 |
| The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani |
For the purposes of this response, I propose that we define “diversity” in a more expansive way.
I suggest that “diversity” should mean more than issue based books by authors of color about protagonists of color. (While I believe that these books are still needed, the definition of diversity in the 21st century needs to be broader. I encourage all of you to read Christopher Myers’ excellent Horn Book piece for more on this subject.
Please consider the work of the debut novelists Korean American Ellen Oh and Asian Indian Soman Chainani. They are part of a growing number of authors of color who are breaking boundaries with regard to the diversity of book content and genre.
I suggest that “diversity” should mean more than issue based books by authors of color about protagonists of color. (While I believe that these books are still needed, the definition of diversity in the 21st century needs to be broader. I encourage all of you to read Christopher Myers’ excellent Horn Book piece for more on this subject.
Please consider the work of the debut novelists Korean American Ellen Oh and Asian Indian Soman Chainani. They are part of a growing number of authors of color who are breaking boundaries with regard to the diversity of book content and genre.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Finding Diversity and My Voice with a Flashlight and a Pen
Guest post by author Angela Cervantes
I am an original flashlight girl. You know the type. Hours after parents called for bedtime; I was still up under my bedcovers with a flashlight reading a favorite book. Many times, those books under the covers with me were the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby books. The fact that the heroines of these books were white and I was Mexican American didn't stop me from enjoying these books and rereading them several times. However, the more I fell in love with reading the more I questioned why there weren’t books like these with Latino characters. At the time, I remember thinking of all the girls in my neighborhood who were just as funny, spunky and adventurous as Ramona, Lucy and Laura. Surely there were books about them out there, right?
Not so much.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Diversity in the News
August 2nd – August 9th, 2013
NEW AT CBC DIVERSITY THIS WEEK
CBC DIVERSITY/COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
ON OUR RADAR
NEW AT CBC DIVERSITY THIS WEEK
- Industry Q&A with Robin Smith, children's book reviewer
- Talking to Teens – Liz Waniewski, Executive Editor, Dial/Penguin Books for Young Readers offers insights into how teens pick books
CBC DIVERSITY/COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
- CBC Diversity: Our Industry Cares About Kids on the Margins at Mitali’s Fire Escape – “One of the most encouraging signs of change since I've been in this vocation was the establishment of the Children's Book Council’s Diversity Committee…”
ON OUR RADAR
- Publishing Diverse Books Isn’t About Reaching Quotas at Rich in Color – Tu Books publisher Stacy Whitman on why she publishes diverse books
- Young dreamers at The Horn Book – author/illustrator Christopher Myers on Trayvon Martin and children’s books
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Industry Q&A with Robin Smith, children's book reviewer
When you were a child or young adult, what book first opened your eyes to the diversity of the world?
If you could participate in a story time with any children’s book author or illustrator (alive or dead) who would it be?
I would love to have met and heard John Steptoe--I would love to hear him tell and talk about Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, one of my favorite books of all time.
I think the first book I remember really opening my eyes was The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou. I have no idea how well it holds up over time.
What is your favorite diverse book that you recently read?
Since
I am currently serving on a committee which looks at books from all
over the globe, I have many books with diverse characters from all
countries. I couldn't possible pick a "favorite," but a new book I think
everyone should read is I Have the Right to Be a Child which is an illustrated book about UN Convention on the rights of the child. It is stunning.
If you could participate in a story time with any children’s book author or illustrator (alive or dead) who would it be? I would love to have met and heard John Steptoe--I would love to hear him tell and talk about Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, one of my favorite books of all time.
How do you introduce books featuring characters of color to parents and kids?
I really don't do anything different when I share books with characters of color to children, to tell you the truth.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Talking to Teens
Over the past few weeks, I got to spend time with a diverse
group of teenagers from the Leave Out Violence organization and Writopia Lab,
and in doing so I realized how little I interact with teenagers on a regular
basis. Yet, my job and career revolve around making books for them. How can I
possibly be making the best books for today’s teenagers when I don’t even know
them?
Well, this was my chance to get to know them and find out
what they loved, hated, made them passionate, and totally turned them off about
books. And what I learned really surprised me and made me re-think the way I
imagine the readers for my books and YA novels in general.
With both groups, I spread out a whole bunch of YA galleys
to get their takes on covers. The galleys ranged from fantasy to historical to
contemporary, from photographic to iconic to illustrated, from type driven to
image driven. Almost unanimously, no one liked photographic faces on the cover
– they all wanted to picture the characters in their own ways and didn’t want
to be told right from the start what someone looked like. Fantasy fans told me
our fantasy covers looked too much like everything else out there and didn’t
tell them anything about what the story was actually about. Romance readers
were put off by images of single girls in pretty dresses – again, this was
something they’d seen too much already. They were put off by the New York Times bestseller headline
because every book they see has that. If a book was trying too hard to appeal
to a teen girl, they wanted nothing to do with it.
Diversity in the News
July 25th – August 2nd, 2013
NEW AT CBC DIVERSITY THIS WEEK
CBC DIVERSITY/COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
ON OUR RADAR
NEW AT CBC DIVERSITY THIS WEEK
- Guten Tag! My trip with the German Book Office by Connie Hsu, editor, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
CBC DIVERSITY/COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
- Editor Namrata Tripathi: The Exclusive #LA13SCBWI Team Blog Interview at I’m Here, I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?
ON OUR RADAR
- Spanish Magazines for Kids Hit Mainstream at Latinas 4 Latino Literature -- Cricket now offers some of the only Spanish-language magazines for kids
- A Book that Looks Like My Family (VIDEO) on Huffington Post Live – Host Nancy Redd invites Erica Perl (from First Book), Deborah Heiligman (author), Todd Parr (author) and Cara Lemieux (journalist) to weigh in on diverse families in children’s lit
- Writing Race in Novels: The Audio Version by Mitali Perkins (Bamboo People) – 10 tips for writing race in novels
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