Race to the Sun

Recent decades have seen an increase in diversity in children’s literature, which (in the US-based publishing context) has long privileged stories written by and centering characters who are white, heterosexual, neurotypical, and without disabilities. In 2014, authors Ellen Oh and Malinda Lo lamented this lack of diversity and founded the “We Need Diverse Books” movement, now a nonprofit (“About WNDB.” We Need Diverse Books, 28 Apr. 2017). This initiative and others like it have studied the impact of and statistics surrounding representation of different races, ethnic groups, disabilities, sexualities, and gender expressions in children’s literature.

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Madison-Wisconsin tracks numbers of children’s and YA books by and about Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), with statistics tracing back to 2004 (“Books by and/or About Black, Indigenous and People of Color (All Years).” Cooperative Children’s Book Center, 2020). As of 2022, 45% of the books received by CCBC were by BIPOC authors, a notable increase from 8% in 2014 (Greenspan, Jesse. “Are Children’s Books Improving Representation?” Scientific American, Dec. 2023). However, white, male authors still dominate the children’s literature publishing field.

Studies show that representation in children’s literature is important not only for children from underrepresented backgrounds but also for children of non-marginalized identities. Children who do not see themselves represented in media suffer from lower self-esteem, and children who see others represented negatively in media are more likely to develop prejudicial views of those groups (Braga, Arianna. “The Importance of Children’s Representation in Literature and Media.” Humanium, 22 Mar. 2022). A broader recognition of the importance of representation in children’s literature has led to the development and publication of series and imprints that focus on promoting diverse stories, such as Rick Riordan Presents.