CBC Diversity
Month
In celebration of Black History Month, Mass Humanities has shared a list of African American children’s books showcasing a healthy and active lifestyle. Research shows that exercise supports children’s brain development, preparing them to perform well in school.
In her 15 years at LBYR Ling has edited books that have won everything from Newbery and Caldecott Honors to the Coretta Scott King Medal.
Alvina was also a founding member of DIBs (Diversity in Books), a group of editors advocating for more diversity in the children’s publishing industry, who approached the Children’s Book Council in 2011 about creating a diversity initiative. In early 2012 CBC Diversity was born!
Every Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) have announced the finalists in the eighth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA), the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Young readers across the country will determine the winners in all 7 categories of the Children’s Choice Book Awards by voting online at ccbookawards.com from Tuesday, March 17, 2015 through Sunday, May 3, 2015. Winners will be announced during the 96th annual Children’s Book Week (May 4-10, 2015).
Each year, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, compiles statistics on the number of books it has received that are by and about people of color. The 2014 report is now available. The CCBC’s research reveals a significant lack of literary representation for Africans and African Americans, American Indians, Asian Pacifics and Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos.
Contributed to CBC Diversity by Hester Bass
When I visit schools, it’s the question I am asked most often: where do you get your ideas? I jokingly answer “on sale at Target” before revealing the truth: ideas come from everywhere all the time.
The idea for my book, Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama (Candlewick Press, illustrated by E.B. Lewis) came from two historical markers I noticed in that city where I lived for ten years, noting that the first instance of both an integrated public school and a “reverse-integrated” private school occurred there during the same week in September 1963. I went straight to the public library, expecting to find a children’s book about these events, but none existed. It seemed the idea had chosen me.
I became committed to celebrating this peaceful chapter in civil rights history, spending six years researching in the library’s historical collections and interviewing local people. I was also transported to my own experiences as a first grader in 1962.
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation celebrates the 27th year of its Mini-Grant Program, fostering children’s love of reading in our diverse world, with a call for proposals. Approximately 60 grants of up to $500 each will be given to eligible teachers and librarians working at public schools and libraries across the nation. Since 1987 the Foundation has provided more than $820,000 in support of Mini-Grant programs.
The deadline for grant submissions is March 31, 2015, and decisions will be announced by May 1.
One perennial challenge that was raised by Alison Reid, co-owner of the Bay Area mini chain Diesel, A Bookstore, is the lack of racial diversity in bookselling. One suggestion from Janet Geddis, owner of Avid Bookshop in Athens, Ga., was to use the emerging leader scholarship program to encourage a more diverse group of young people to become booksellers. “It’s on us to make a diverse community,” said Jay Steele, owner of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, adding, “I’m a trans person.”
We were so happy that Rich in Color was able to join ALSC and the CBC at the Day of Diversity: Dialogue & Action event. Check out K. Imani’s recap, including the awesome action she’s already taken stemming from the ideas shared at the event!
Scholastic will release Pam Muñoz Ryan’s latest book, ‘Echo,’ on February 24, 2015. Ryan challenged herself as a writer by linking together three interconnected storylines for this project. She used a large whiteboard to keep track of all the details for each different plot and incorporated a fairy tale.
Language is powerful. Monica Brown knows that. She’s an English professor at Northern Arizona University, a children’s author and a Latina. Until last week, Brown had never heard the term “a deportable” used to describe an immigrant to the U.S., and it left her with an uneasy feeling.
Dan Santat has devoted the past decade to a career creating children’s books; he was recently named the winner of the Caldecott Medal. Five years ago, he received an offer to join the Google team to design doodles; he made the difficult decision of turning down the job and became determined not to have any regrets over this decision.
Inspired by the ALSC/CBC’s ’Day of Diversity,’ author, bookseller, and blogger Elizabeth Bluemle shares a list of 7 concrete actions that individuals can take to show support for diverse books. She believes that small steps can eventually lead to greater awareness and long-term change both in children’s literature and the publishing community.
weneeddiversebooks:
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: NOVEMBER 1, 2015
About the Walter Dean Myers Award
The Walter Dean Myers Award, also known as “The Walter,” is named for celebrated children’s book author Walter Dean Myers (1937-2014), who was widely known for his prolific body of work for children and teens. Walter Dean Myers was a lifelong advocate for diversity in books for young readers, and a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His legacy can still be seen in the thousands of lives he touched, including those of readers and authors alike. WNDB seeks to honor his memory by establishing this award in his name.
There will be one winner of the Walter Award for YA. There will be 1-3 honors awarded. The Walter Award winner will be announced in February 2016.
Eligibility
Submissions must be written by a diverse author and the submission must be a diverse work.
A diverse work constitutes: a YA work written by a diverse author featuring a diverse main character. In stories in which there is no main character, the work must address diversity in a substantial capacity.
Work must be an original work published in the United States for the first time in 2015.
Work may have been originally in another language and translated, but the first publication date in English must be 2015.
Work must be determined to be in the young adult genre for an audience of ages 13-18.
Interested?! Read all the details on how to submit a novel for consideration here!
The American Library Association (ALA) concluded its Midwinter Meeting in Chicago by announcing the top books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards.
Kwame Alexander received the 2015 Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King (Author) Honor for his novel ‘The Crossover’ (HMH). The Caldecott Medal went to illustrator Dan Santat for ‘The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend’ (Little, Brown). Download the ALA press release for the complete list of winners and honorees.
Contributed to CBC Diversity by Janet Wong
The biggest publishing story of last yearwas diversity: the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement, the watermelon “joke,”and the way the two overlapped when WNDB’s Indiegogo campaign topped $334,000,thanks to an apology.
Diversity is the biggest story of this yearso far, too, with the ALSC/CBC collaboration on the Day of Diversity: Dialogue & Action event, which was just held at ALA Midwinter 2015 in Chicago on January 30. I’m eager to see what comes in the next weeks, months, and year from former Executive Director of the CBC Robin Adelson’s challenge: “it’s now time to move from talk to action.” In addition to the Day of Diversity, a session called “Stepping It Up With Action!” was held on February 1 and ALSC will be hosting follow-up community forums and webinars to continue the conversation and make sure everyone is involved in action steps.
How do you plan to step it up? What kind of action would you like to see?
