Diversity

Sophia Thakur, a performance poet and author of Somebody Give This Heart a Pen (Candlewick; Gr 9 Up), discusses the power of poetry, her artistic journey, and the five #OwnVoices works that have inspired her. 

The United States Census reported that the Hispanic population accounted for almost 20 percent of the U.S. population in 2020. However, only five percent of children’s books feature Latinx characters or subjects. Thankfully, more picture book biographies are being published about groundbreaking Latinx luminaries every year. These are some must-add choices for your collections.
 

By popular demand, the full recording of the picture book creators session, featuring author Derrick Barnes and illustrator Gordon C. James discussing their latest collaboration, I Am Every Good Thing.

The viral hashtag #PublishingPaidMe has revealed the glaring disparities in author advances. It's not enough to publish books created by authors of color; change needs to happen on all levels. 

Learning to recognize and combat racism and other forms of injustice and move toward a more equitable world is a lifelong process—and one that must start as early as possible. Aimed at infants and toddlers through elementary school students, these titles introduce topics such as intersectionality and privilege, with explanations that are age-appropriate and honest.

Book about racism and antiracism and those by black creators are in high demand, for adults and children.

Just like for any other age group, it’s important that babies see people of color in their books. Use these 50 diverse titles to help build your board book collection.

Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi, co-authors of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, kicked off SLJ's Day of Dialog. Here is the entire keynote conversation.

In honor of Pride Month, these debut authors discuss their LGBTQIA+ themed YA books.