White, White and Read All Over

Lack of diversity in children’s books continues, NIU study shows

U.S. children’s picture books continue to show predominantly white characters, an NIU study shows.

The imbalance – still an issue 50 years after Nancy Larrick’s landmark “The All-White World of Children’s Books” was published Sept. 11, 1965, in the Saturday Review – spurs young readers of color to feel that they do not matter or even that “to be white is to be better.”

So says Melanie Koss, an associate professor in the Northern Illinois UniversityDepartment of Literacy and Elementary Education, who urges publishers of such books to improve the diversity depicted on their pages.

Meanwhile, she says, classroom teachers should actively seek out titles that get it right: Children are more likely to read and value the importance of reading when they can see and connect to characters who are like them.

Jun 06, 2015
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    It also helps to keep the many books which have been written on the shelves. Young children don’t know they are dated....
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