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  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘The Crow’s Tale’ by Naomi Howarth





    The Crow’s Tale by Naomi Howarth (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books/Quarto Children’s Group, October 2015). All rights reserved.

  • Gear Up at the Book Week Store!

    Gear up for the 97th annual Children’s Book Week (May 2-8) while supporting Every Child a Reader, a non-profit dedicated to instilling a life-long love of reading in children. Shop …

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘Red’ by Jan De Kinder





    Red by Jan De Kinder (Eerdmans, March 2015). All rights reserved. 

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘Peace is an Offering’ illustrated by Stephanie Graegin

    Peace is an Offering by Annette Lebox, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin (Dial Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, March 2015). All rights reserved. @penguinrandomhouse

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘One Family’ by George Shannon, illustrated by Blanca Gomez





    One Family by George Shannon, illustrated by Blanca Gomez (Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan Children’s, May 2015). All rights reserved. @macmillankids   

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘Mango, Abuela, and Me’ illustrated by Angela Dominguez

    Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina, illustrated by Angela Dominguez (Candlewick, August 2015). All rights reserved.

  • Gene Luen Yang Lends Support to Highlight the Transformation of Libraries as 2016 National Library Week Honorary Chair

    CHICAGO — Libraries of all types consistently transform lives through free access to technology, digital literacy, career development, and opportunities for community engagement and lifelong learning.  In celebration of the invaluable …

  • Diversity in the News: February 2016

    The newsletter is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers, booksellers, parents and caregivers, publishing professionals, and children’s literature lovers. Find thought-provoking articles, diverse new releases, and more in this month’s issue and sign …

  • Into the Trenches

    By Julie Bliven,Editor, Charlesbridge

    As an editor, I wish I had more opportunities to see first-hand how young readers interact with the books I’ve worked on. I gauge reader responses from sales figures, reviews, and blog posts. I also solicit blunt commentary from my niece and nephew. But that’s about all I’ve got.

    In the aftermath of the controversy surrounding A Fine Dessert and A Birthday Cake for George Washington, I wondered a lot about how kids might respond to these particular books. And I wondered how the adult reader would discuss these books with kids. What would I say? This got me thinking about the books I’ve edited: How might I discuss issues like race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability in these books? And why do these conversations matter?

    I felt compelled to head into the trenches. Armed with apprehension, I joined the kindergarten classroom of a friend and teacher in the greater Boston area. These were my goals:

    1. Read one multicultural picture book that I’ve edited.
    2. Read one multicultural picture book recommended by the teacher.
    3. Discuss the books, encouraging diverse viewpoints. (This particular class of twenty-one has six students whose first language is not English, and four students of color.)
    4. Check my own biases by asking and answering questions literally and objectively. (For instance, avoid discussing elements in the text—like a soup kitchen or Arabic—using words like “good,” “different,” or “other.”)

    Here’s what happened when we read the books:

    I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien

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    This was the book I edited. It’s the story of three immigrant children from Guatemala, Korea, and Somalia. They are new to the United States and initially struggle to read and speak English, make friends, and fit in.

    First I asked the kids what they thought the book would be about. One girl called out, “They’re from Ireland!” She explained that people who come to America can be from there.

    Later I asked questions like “Have you ever been new? What does it feel like?” Responses ranged from “Weird!” to “Awesome—you meet new people!” to “Bad, because you don’t know what to say.”

    When we came to this page, a boy yelled out, “I can’t believe he’s sleeping in school!” I didn’t know if this was about the shape of the Asian character’s eyes. I wasn’t sure I knew the “right” way to respond. So I asked more questions. The student interpreted the thought cloud as a dream sequence. Mystery solved! I also talked about the illustrator’s choice of perspective: If we stood over someone who was looking down at his paper, it might appear to us—from above—that his eyelids were closed. And suddenly they were telling me ways they like to draw things.

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    When I discarded my own assumptions and asked more questions, the story and conversation led to illuminating places for all. And isn’t this why these conversations matter?

    Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson 

    This was the teacher’s recommendation. It’s the story of CJ and his nana’s bus ride after church. They eventually end up at a local soup kitchen, serving others.

    I had to explain that a soup kitchen is a place where food is offered to the hungry, for free. “For FREE!?” an astonished voice asked. Another kid pointed at an illustration and declared, “But that man’s not poor. He has sunglasses. Why is he there?”

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    I asked if we can look at others and tell whether or not they are poor.

    One girl had an answer: “Not if we were all naked.” I was floored by her reflection on physical markers of class. The word “naked,” however, sent the kids into fits of giggles. The girl blushed. But her words opened up a deeper discussion.

    I was amazed by how many interpretations of both books were at play. In my editing bubble, how can I imagine all these nuances—not to mention address them? I can’t. But I can keep talking to kids and reading them books. I can keep talking to adults about books, too. In both scenarios, if I remember to ask open questions and listen carefully, I imagine I’ll be better able to gauge what contributes to a book’s capacity for inspiring honest and sometimes complicated conversations.

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    Julie Bliven is an editor at Charlesbridge. She holds an M.A. in Children’s Literature from Simmons College. If you’re a parent, teacher, or librarian looking for new ways to approach storytime, Julie recommends Reading Picture Books With Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about What They See, by Megan Dowd Lambert.

  • Ninth Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Finalists Announced

    KIDS & TEENS TO DETERMINE THE WINNERS BY VOTING AT CCBOOKAWARDS.COM FROM MARCH 8- APRIL 25, 2016 New York, NY — February 16, 2016 – Every Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book …

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘Voice of Freedom’ illustrated by Ekua Holmes

    Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hammer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Candlewick, August 2015). All rights reserved.

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk’ illustrated by Jess Golden





    The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk by Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal, illustrated by Jess Golden (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, January 2016). All rights reserved. @simonkidsuk

  • Give a Child a Book of Hope

    By Darcy Pattison, Author

    I appreciate that the CBC Diversity Bookshelf addresses all sorts of diversity, from ethnic to family situations and beyond. If you glance down their list of 67 topics on the Goodreads Bookshelf, there’s likely a topic that tugs at your heart.

    In sixth grade my parents divorced and my mother remarried, this time to a man who was an alcoholic. Several years later, she divorced him and soon remarried — again to an alcoholic.

    Despite being an avid reader, I certainly never saw my situation reflected in children’s books! Yet 11 million children live with alcoholic parents (http://www.alcoholism-statistics.com/family-statistics/). Add in those who live with parents who abuse other substances, and it’s a huge demographic that faces overwhelming situations. Often it leads to messy divorces, single-parent families, and other special needs.

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    Why aren’t these situations represented more in children’s books? Partly because difficult family situations aren’t entertainment.

    So, do we write children’s books to entertain, to teach, or to stand on a soapbox? The answers are complex. I wrote my contemporary retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story, Saucy and Bubba, because I wanted my experiences to help children facing caregivers who are substance abusers. I wanted those kids to know it’s okay to want to be safe. It’s okay to need help and to ask an adult for help. It’s okay to want your Daddy to love you and to expect that he will take care of you.

    Near the story’s climax, Saucy is hiding under a truck and her father is searching for her. At one point, he leans against the truck, not knowing that Saucy is close enough to touch him. She yearns for Daddy to find her, but she holds back because of the alcoholic stepmother, Krissy. When Daddy goes back inside the house with Krissy, Saucy makes the difficult decision to live with her aunt until things are better.

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    Scenes like this one bring a certain darkness to a story, even if the events carry the weight of truth. It’s in the tradition of Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt, and The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Both of these award-winning books tell of painful truths, but they manage to do so with respect for the child reader. I especially like Paterson’s statement that she always ends her stories with a note of hope. Fortunately, Saucy’s story also ends with hope that the family will work things out and come back together.

    In the end, I write to tell a truthful story that will touch someone deeply; I write with the reader — the troubled child — in mind. And children need many things from the pages of a book: entertainment, escape, sympathy, or a deep identification with a character.  And most especially, children need hope.

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    Darcy Pattison has three novels on the CBC Diversity Bookshelves. Saucy and Bubba (sample chapter) is a contemporary retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story with characters who live with substance abuse caregivers; Longing for Normal is the story of two foster kids who are fighting for a place to call home—using just a simple bread recipe; Vagabonds  is an American animal fantasy that is a metaphor for the immigrant experience. Translated into nine languages, Darcy’s book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman was an Irma Black Honor Award winner and her other books have received starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, and BCCB.

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton’ by Don Tate

    Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton by Don Tate (Peachtree, September 2015). All rights reserved. @peachtreepublishers

  • #DrawingDiversity: ‘A Dog Wearing Shoes’ by Sangmi Ko





    A Dog Wearing Shoes by Sangmi Ko (Schwartz & Wade/Random House Children’s Books, September 2015). All rights reserved. @randomhouse

  • Announcing the 2016 Mathical List

    The selection panel featured mathematicians, teachers, librarians, early childhood experts, and others. Together they evaluated books of all kinds, from picture books and novels to narrative nonfiction, that foster an …

  • Meet Gene Luen Yang, the 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature!

    The Children’s Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress have announced the appointment of Gene Luen Yang, Printz Award winner …

  • Gene Luen Yang Named 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, 2016–2017

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press contact: Paul Crichton, PR for the Children’s Book Council: (917) 478-0517; pcrichton@yahoo.comPress contact: Guy Lamolinara, Library of Congress: (202) 707-9217; glam@loc.govPublic contact: Center for the Book: …

  • Fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature To Be Inaugurated on January 7, 2016

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press contacts:Paul Crichton, PR for the Children’s Book Council, (917) 478-0517; pcrichton@yahoo.comGuy Lamolinara, Library of Congress, (202) 707-9217; glam@loc.govPublic contact: Center for the Book, (202) 707-5221; cfbook@loc.gov …

  • Industry Q&A with agent Brooks Sherman

    Tell us about the most recent diverse book you represented.
    My most recent sale, which has not yet been publicly announced, is a young adult novel that fearlessly confronts the national and cultural issues concerning the “Black Lives Matter” movement. I can report that this project sold in a highly aggressive auction, which would indicate that publishers are very interested in this kind of narrative. I’m looking forward to sharing more news about this fantastic book in early 2016!

    How do you go about finding diverse authors and illustrators?

    I have found social media, particularly Twitter, to be very useful as a platform for letting writers know the kinds of themes and stories I’m looking to represent. Several of my now-clients first approached me because they saw me talking about issues and concepts I was hoping to find in my submissions. Also, the sales of past books with diversity elements have helped position me as an agent with a strong interest in this area.

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    How do you encourage emerging writers of color?

    I have learned a lot these last couple years about being a good ally, listening, and helping to promote the voices of writers — and readers — of color. (That’s not to say I believe I have all the answers; I’m definitely still learning.) I think, for an ally, it’s important to make room for writers of color to have the floor, to bring others’ attention to them but then quickly remove yourself from the spotlight.

    What is one of the biggest challenges for authors who want to include more diversity in their books?

    I think one issue is finding the right balance between theme or message, and story. I have seen a lot of submissions where the authors have made efforts to include more diversity, but at the cost of plot or character arc. My opinion (and I’ll stress this is just my opinion, not fact) is that most people who read for pleasure, particularly children and young adults, are not looking for a lesson or teaching moment — they are looking for a story or character to engage with. Finding the right balance, so important themes are present but not overpowering the other narrative elements, is very difficult.

    Many sales teams will argue that titles representing diversity don’t sell. Can you provide an example of a successful book — with diverse characters or plot lines — in the children’s book marketplace at the moment?

    I can point to my client Becky Albertalli’s young adult novel Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which incorporates an LGBT romance plot line as well as an ethnically diverse cast of characters. This debut novel has received nearly universal acclaim, both critically (four starred reviews, long-listed for the National Book Award, a 2016 Morris Award contender) and commercially (over 180 reviews on Amazon and an energetic online and in-person fan base), and even a film deal (Fox 2000 has acquired the film rights, with the producing team behind the Fault In Our Stars film adaptation attached). I’m thrilled to report that the love for this book doesn’t appear to be dying down, nearly a year after its initial publication!

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    Why do you think children’s television shows like “Dora the Explorer” or “Diego” are more successful at [promoting] diversity than the children’s publishing industry?

    I can’t speak too much to this point, as I’m not actively watching children’s television programming. I can say that shows like “Dora the Explorer" appear to follow the same format as groundbreaking shows like “Sesame Street,” in that they present content for a diverse audience, making learning and cross-cultural experience both active and fun.

    Perhaps that is one area that children’s book publishing can focus on — emphasizing learning about diversity in an engaging, dynamic, and/or entertaining manner, rather than making it feel like a homework assignment.

    If publishing houses are reluctant to acquire diversity-inclusive projects for fear of lower sales, how can agents help in finding sales opportunities and interested markets?

    In all honesty, I’m not finding publishing houses hesitant to acquire diversity-inclusive projects. I think, particularly in the last year, the publishing industry as a whole has admitted that it has a diversity problem and is taking steps to address this.

    As far as hastening the process along, though, I find that simply presenting myself as an agent interested in diversity-inclusive and diversity-oriented projects has opened up a lot of doors for both me and my clients. Book clubs, activists, community outreach organizations, and authors have all reached out in the last couple years, presenting new opportunities to my clients, and new potential clients to me. I think advertising that you want to be an ally and part of a constructive movement helps establish connections that might not otherwise be apparent. Community outreach is key, whether it’s local or through a wider network via social media, tours, or Skype visits.

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    Brooks Sherman is a literary agent with the Bent Agency. Before starting his career in publishing, Brooks spent several years working in the entertainment industry (in both New York and Hollywood), and two years with the Peace Corps in West Africa. He is a hands-on, editorial agent who delights in developing projects with his clients before bringing them to the attention of publishers. Brooks seeks projects that balance strong voice with gripping plot lines. You can find him sharing publishing news and horrible puns on Twitter: @byobrooks.


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