Why there is still work to be done in the world of #DiverseKidlit

Friends, we still have so much work to do!

Here’s some information from the CCBC about diversity in kidlit. In their analysis of picture books published in 2017:

Of the approximately 3,700 books received at the CCBC in 2017, most from U.S. publishers, here’s the breakdown:

340 had significant African or African American content/characters.
- 100 of these were by Black authors and/or illustrators. (29.41% #OwnVoices)
72 had significant American Indian/First Nations content/characters.
- 38 of these were by American Indian/First Nations authors and/or illustrators. (52.78% #OwnVoices)
310 had significant Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content/characters.
- 122 of these were by authors and/or illustrators of Asian/Pacific heritage. (39.35% #OwnVoices)
216 had significant Latinx content/characters.
- 73 of these were by Latinx authors and/or illustrators. (33.8% #OwnVoices)

(The numbers will change slightly as they continue to receive a stray title or two. Check their website for up-to-date statistics, including the numbers for books from U.S. publishers only, and more on what and how they count.)

* A character in a picture book was 4 times more likely to be a dinosaur than an American Indian child.
* A character in a picture book was 2 times more likely to be a rabbit than an Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American child.
* A female character in a picture book was highly likely to be wearing pink and/or a bow, even if she is a hippopotamus, an ostrich, or a dinosaur.
* A child with a disability appeared in only 21 picture books, and only 2 of those were main characters. Most others appeared in background illustrations.

That’s less than one-third of one percent of picture books published in 2017 and received by the CCBC that had the main character with a disability. No wonder I have trouble finding books I want to review!