1. Diversity in Children’s Literature:
Building Classroom Libraries and
Literacy Communities That Reflect and
Reveal Our Humanity
Presentation by Aliza M. R. Werner
@alizateach
#WSRAChildrensLit
2. A Little Bit About Me…
3rd Grade Teacher in Glendale
WI State Reading Assoc: Children’s Lit Committee (WSRA)
MKE Film: Youth Ed. and Curriculum Writer
Traveler, Photographer, Wife, Doggy Mom
4. A strong culture of literacy begins with…
Teacher as Lead Reader
● Live a literate life
● Share your reading life
● Bring authentic reading
practices into the classroom
5. Live a Literate Life
● Be a reader! Read in the edges, steal moments
● Nerdy Book Club: Read & Write
● Twitter (follow hashtags #nerdybookclub, #titletalk)
● Track reading on Goodreads
● Know recent and upcoming publications (Mr. Schu’s Book Release
Calendar http://bit.ly/29eXvWU)
● Stay current with PD publications and edu leaders’ thinking through
books, blogs, articles, podcasts
9. Bring Authentic Reading Practices
Into The Classroom
● What do I read?
● How do I read?
● When do I read?
● Why do I read?
● Besides the act of reading, how else do I
interact with and respond to the text?
11. “Why have a classroom library
when I can just send my student to
the library to check out a book?”
Immediate access
Statement of expectation: “Reading
is what we do here.”
Ownership
Community
12. Classroom Libraries!
Librarians curate the best and most complete libraries.
However, classroom libraries are not a luxury, they are a
necessity. They do not replace school libraries, rather they
co-exist and support each other.
13. When building your classroom library...
Focus on diversity
Genres
(Fiction & Nonfiction)
Formats
(Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Early Chapter/Middle Grade)
Minorities
(ethnicity, gender, culture, disability, LGBTQ, religious)
14. Windows & Mirrors
“Books are sometimes windows, offering views
of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar
or strange. A window can also be a mirror...and in
that reflection, we can see our own lives and
experiences as part of the larger human
experience.”
“Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors” By Rudine Sims Bishop, https://www.psdschools.org/webfm/8559
17. In April 2014, a Twitter
conversation about the lack of
diversity in children’s literature
inspired a movement.
The hashtag
#WeNeedDiverseBooks started
trending and the non-profit
organization WE NEED DIVERSE
BOOKS was born.
18.
19.
20. http://blog.leeandlow.com/2017/03/30/the-diversity-
gap-in-childrens-book-publishing-2017/
As of 2016, only 11% of children’s books
contain multicultural content (over 23
years), while 37% of the U.S. population
is people of color
In 2016, multicultural content increased,
however Black, Latinx, and Native
authors combined wrote just 6% of
those books
In 2016, only 71 of the 278 (25.5%) books
about African Americans were actually
written and/or illustrated by African
Americans.
21. What happens when marginalized
and minority peoples and
communities are not given the
platform to tell their own stories?
22.
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25.
26. People have always had
identity stories, but they
have NOT always been
reflected in literature.
27. So where do children who are
Black
Gay
Transgender
Muslim
Autistic
Deaf
Immigrants
Adopted
Dyslexic . . .
34. “Then began an
experience that turned
my life around—working
on a book with a black kid
as hero. None of the
manuscripts I’d been
illustrating featured any
black kids—except for
token blacks in the
background. My book
would have him there
simply because he should
have been there all
along.”
Ezra Jack Keats
35.
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37.
38. How do you provide windows and mirrors
to your students who are
LGBTQIA
?
39. Or your students who are
Gender Non-Conforming
Questioning
Breaking the mold of traditional gender roles
?
50. Remember!
Be critically evaluative of books.
Choosing books that serve a stereotype or
perceived characterization of a group of people
does nothing but advance the stereotype, or
create new prejudices, despite your best
intentions.
51. WSRA Children’s Literature Committee
List: Picture This!
List: Just One More Page
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