Multicultural Children's Book Day

#ReadYourWorld

Lee & Low Books’ Jason Low shares his thoughts on #diversity and the 25th Anniversary of Baseball Saved Us

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(Guest post by Becky Flansburg; Project Manager for MCBD)

Not long ago, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing publisher, Philip Lee. As one of the former founders of Lee & Low Books, Philip left the company in 2004  to create his own publishing house, Readers to Eaters, in 2009. It was Philip that clued me in on a big milestone for Lee & Low Books that I felt really needed to be shouted from the rooftops. Lee & Low Books has always had a passion and commitment to diversity in children’s literature and publishing exec, Jason Low, spent some time with us to share his thoughts on diversity and a very exciting milestone for one particular Lee & Low book.

Lee & Low Book’s connection to Multicultural Children’s Book Day began way back when MCBD first began. Our non-profit has always been in awe of this diverse children’s book publisher’s passion and commitment to children’s literature.

About Lee & Low Books:

Lee & Low Books

Lee & Low Books is the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the country, and one of the few minority-owned publishing companies in the United States. They offer books for all young readers, from leveled books for beginning readers through middle grade and young adult novels. They also publish several bilingual books, as well as books in other languages. Their books reflect the diversity and richness of the United States. LEE & LOW BOOKS is more than just a publisher: it is a leader in the movement for more diversity in literature.

The Exciting News

The “milestone” that I discovered was impending was the 25th anniversary of Lee & Low’s very first published book, Baseball Saved Us. 

The 25th anniversary of anything is a big deal, but it’s even bigger when it’s a company connected to a shared mission and vision. Thrilled and excited, I reached out to my connection at Lee & Low who in turn put me in touch with exec, Jason Low. Jason generously agreed to share his thoughts on the 25th Anniversary of Baseball Saved Us, some points of pride with his company and also his thoughts on the advancement of diversity in children’s literature. Enjoy!

 

Q & A With Lee & Low Books’ Jason Low

 

Becky: Walk me briefly through Lee & Low’s timeline and what year you came on board.

JL: I joined the company in 1997. I was employee #6. By then, Lee & Low Books had established itself as a promising small publisher of quality multicultural books. At the time, one of Lee & Low’s biggest challenges was finding diverse authors and illustrators and developing stories. Many of the limitations we faced back then mainly had to do with size, or lack thereof. Everyone wore many hats. As a result, we struggled to cover the basics like keeping publication dates and sending out review copies on time. The early years were an exciting time too! The lack of resources forced us to prioritize and innovate. Working with a modest budget required us to come up with creative solutions and guerrilla marketing techniques. There is no better way to learn how to run a business than to work for a startup.

 

Becky: This month is the 25th anniversary of Lee & Low’s release of their very first book, Baseball Saved Us. What does this milestone mean to you personally? To the company? 

JL: Baseball Saved Us will always symbolize for us how it all began. The book broke new ground by making the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II personnel. It is an underdog story set in an era of overt racism, seen through the clear-eyed innocence of a child, with America’s favorite pastime acting as a backdrop. Baseball Saved Us set the bar for us editorially, and as the years advanced, our instincts developed further, telling us what other stories still needed to be told. Our focus on ethnicity eventually widened to include other marginalized groups like LGBT and people with disabilities. “About everyone ~ For everyone” became our motto. As the business matures, we remember everything, from the highs to the lean years we had to endure. These memories give us an appreciation for where we are today. The early years taught us how to get by with less, but now that we have the means to do more for our books, it is an exciting time.

Lee & Low Books

Becky: Was there any specific reason this book was chosen to be Lee & Low’s first offering?

JL: New publishers are typically focused on finding great manuscripts and publishing them as soon as possible. The chicken-and-egg model would apply here—no books = no sales. This hand-to-mouth kind of publishing persisted for a number of years. In the beginning, there was no master plan. Baseball Saved Us was one of three books ready for release in our debut year.

 

Becky: Do you have something special in mind to celebrate/recognize this milestone?

JL: We are working on a 25th Anniversary edition of Baseball Saved Us to commemorate this milestone. It will be released in Fall 2018.

 

Becky: Lee & Low has such an amazing reputation for producing impactful and quality books for readers. This is a tall order, but can you pinpoint 3-5 books that Lee & Low has published that you feel really made an impact on readers?

JL: Aside from Baseball Saved Us? I’d go with:

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Lee & Low Books

By G. Neri

Illustrated by Randy DuBurke

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/yummy

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match

By Monica Brown

Illustrated by Sara Palacios

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/marisol-mcdonald-doesn-t-match-marisol-mcdonald-no-combina

Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace

Lee & Low Books

By Jen Johnson

Illustrated by Sonia Sadler

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/seeds-of-change

Summer of the Mariposas

Lee & Low Books

By Guadalupe Garcia McCall

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/summer-of-the-mariposas

I Am Alfonso Jones*

Lee & Low

By Tony Medina

Illustrated by Stacey Robinson, John Jennings

https://www.leeandlow.com/books/i-am-alfonso-jones

*Note: I Am Alfonso Jones is a new graphic novel, so it remains to be seen what long-term impact this book will have on readers. However, the book has already been included on lists like the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens and the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens from the American Library Association (ALA), so we believe it is destined to go far.

 

Becky: Back in 2015, Lee & Low did a study on the Diversity Gap that showed that, despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Do you feel these stats have shifted over the last 3 years? 

JL: Yes and no. See our reactions and thoughts here: http://blog.leeandlow.com/2017/03/30/the-diversity-gap-in-childrens-book-publishing-2017/

 

Becky: If you could let readers know ONE THING about Lee & Low, what would that one thing be?

JL: If you are searching for authentic, quality, diverse books with plenty of heart, Lee & Low Books is the publisher for you. Pass it on.

Jason Low

 

Jason Low

 

Jason Low is the publisher and a co-owner of LEE & LOW BOOKS, the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States. Jason has spoken at national conferences like American Library Association and Texas Library Association. He has presented at universities such as Princeton, Pratt, and NYU about the importance of inclusion in children’s books. In addition to publishing award-winning books, the company initiated a series of Diversity Gap Studies, which revealed a lack of representation across industries like film, television, and theater. Lee & Low also spearheaded the first Diversity Baseline Survey to measure diversity in publishing staff, the results of which have become an often referred to benchmark by academics and major media alike. In 2016, the Eric Carle Museum selected Lee & Low as the recipient of its Angel Award for the company’s dedication to artists and authors who offer children both mirrors and windows to the world.

 

How to Become a Multicultural Children’s Book Conquistador! By Ruben Watson

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“Daddy, daddy, look- I finally found one!” My daughter Savannah yelled to me in the middle of the Barnes and Noble bookstore. You see, a few months earlier my lovely wife and I decided that we were going to infuse Kwanzaa into our family holiday celebrations. The only problem was that we both grew up in homes where Kwanzaa was not celebrated, so we took it upon ourselves to research and discover all the elements of celebrating the historic holiday.

During our time studying common Kwanzaa customs and rituals, we discovered that unwrapped “zawadi” (which is Swahili for gifts) should be given to our children. The gifts must also be beneficial to improving children’s cultural development and growth. My idea for providing zawadi to our children was to buy them books with African-American characters.  Which brings us back to my daughter yelling at the top of her lungs in Barnes and Noble. She was screaming out of excitement and pure joy because we had been searching for multicultural children’s books for the past two hours at a various book stores in our community. Unfortunately, the book we found was the only one that had a character of color in the entire store. The joyful expression my daughter had on her face when she discovered that book transformed into pure frustration for me.

I unknowingly assumed that buying multicultural children’s books at a mainstream bookstore would be an easy process. I was wrong. Not only did we have to search harder for multicultural children’s books at every store we visited, we also had to check with store associates for independently published books which, in most cases, were not available. I drove home with my family in utter disbelief.  Instead of giving up altogether, I switched gears to my last resort of purchasing multicultural children’s books on the internet.

A couple weeks after Kwanzaa, I spoke to my wife about my frustrations of not being able to find more books with characters our children could identify with at our local bookstores. My wife listened to me, shrugged then gave me the best advice I ever received. She said “Why don’t you just write a book for the kids?” She spoke those words with such nonchalance but she was 100% correct!

I had never wrote a children’s book in my life so I had no idea where to start. One thing I did have was over 12 years of experience writing rhymes and poetry but that decreased drastically after our children were born. I did additional research on how to write a book and get published, and after two years, I was finally able to publish my first children’s book (Which is ironically available at Barnes & Noble)

“Where is My Grandpa?”

 

Ruben Watson

So my suggestion to you if you can’t find multicultural children’s books at your local book store would be to do the following things:

  1. Search the internet- There are many dedicated sites that have expansive selections of Multicultural books.
  2. Search local used book stores- There are so many hidden treasures waiting to be discovered!
  3. Exchange books with fellow parents, coworkers, and family members– Because that’s what friends are for!
  4. Review and purchase books recommended by the MCCBD – For obvious reasons!

Diversity booklist and resources for parents and teachers

Following these tips should help you out if you are experiencing challenges finding multicultural books for your kids or students at local book stores. If that doesn’t work, you may want to do what I did and write a book for your kids. Good luck conquistadors!

Ruben is an educator by day and an author by night. His love for writing was sparked by his passion for reading. As a young child, Ruben was captivated by the knowledge and adventures he experienced every time that he opened a book. Ruben possesses a Master’s Degree in K-12 Education Administration and his motto that he shares with young children is “Readers are Leaders”.You can connect with Ruben on Facebook & Twitter at: 

 

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Let’s get EPIC! (diversity & multicultural stories from across the globe)

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As a company devoted to promoting literacy and enriching children’s lives with access to books, Epic! is proud to support Multicultural Children’s Book Day in its mission of raising awareness and celebrating diversity.

With more than 20,000 e-books, audiobooks, and read-to-me books in our vast digital library, you get instant access to beloved popular and award-winning books for kids 12 & under. Read on any device — anywhere and anytime!

Celebrate Multicultural Children’s Day with our editorial picks for top 10 diversity & multicultural stories from across the globe! (And they’re all available to read on Epic!) [Read more…]

25 Diversity Authors and Illustrators Guest Posting in January!

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Coming in January — Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight: Shining the Light on Inclusive Authors & Illustrators!

multicultural children's book day January 27 2015

From January 1st through the 25th, the Multicultural Children’s Book Day blog — in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council — will feature interviews with 25 inclusive authors and illustrators, giving you a behind-the-scenes peek at their creative processes.

To kick off our Author and Illustrator interviews at the Multicultural Children’s Book Day blog, we interviewed Joseph Bruchac …

Joseph Bruchac

followed by Jacqueline Woodson! (and stay tuned for Margarita Engle and Cynthia Kadohata!)

Jacqueline Woodson

Coming in January — Multicultural Children’s Book Day Spotlight: Shining the Light on Inclusive Authors & Illustrators!

multicultural children's book day January 27 2015

From January 1st through the 25th, the Multicultural Children’s Book Day blog — in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council — will feature interviews with 25 inclusive authors and illustrators, giving you a behind-the-scenes peek at their creative processes.

Children's Book Council

Please welcome (in alphabetical order):

Tracey Baptiste was born in Trinidad, where she grew up on jumbie stories and fairy tales. Her debut, a young adult novel titled Angel’s Grace, was named one of the 100 best books for reading and sharing by New York City librarians. Tracey is a former teacher, textbook editor, ballerina, and amateur librarian who once started up a library in her house in the hope that everyone would bring their books back late and she would be rich! You know, like other librarians. She is now a wife and mom and lives in New Jersey, where she writes and edits books for kids from a very cozy office in her house that is filled with more toys than she can count. The Jumbies is her second novel.

[Read more…]

Calling All Bloggers! Calling all Children’s Book Authors! MCCBD Needs YOU!

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Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.

 

The prep of the upcoming (1/27/15) Multicultural Children’s Book day is humming right along! In case you’ve missed all the details, Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and I are teaming up once again to bring awareness and shine the spotlight on all of the amazing multicultural children’s books that are available to readers, parents, teachers and libraries.
Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Mia and I are on a mission to change that; it’s a mission to raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, and to get more of these types of books into classrooms and libraries. This event also provides an excellent way for us to compile a list of book titles and blog reviews for everyone to use to expand their bookshelves.

[Read more…]