Multicultural Representation in Board Books

Eliza Dresang, Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services, Information School, University of Washington, recently shared Sandra Hughes-Hassell's website with me as well as Sandra and Ernie J. Cox's recent study conclusions: "Inside Board Books: Representations of People of Color" from The Library Quarterly, Volume 80 Number 3 (July 2010).

Visit here for Sandra's great list of board books featuring African American babies and families. And then read these quotes from "Inside Board Books: Representations of People of Color." The 2000 U.S. Census shows 33% of children under age five are multicultural. We need to address this need, authors, illustrators, and publishers!

First look at the included summary of the board book from Moira McKenzie and Gay Su Pinnell's “Changing Conceptions of Early Literacy” in Children’s Literature in the Classroom: Weaving Charlotte’s Web:

"Interactions with board books help infants learn to recognize familiar objects and to develop basic concepts related to people, animals, possessions, familiar events, and daily routines. Through naming and pointing, board books help build a toddler’s vocabulary and aid in understanding language. Rhymes, rhythms, physical actions like hand clapping, and the exploration of textures build a toddler’s sensory awareness. Young children who are regularly read to exhibit early literate behavior."

The report continues by explaining the need for board books with multicultural representation:

"Research suggests that exposure to books and other resources about people who look like them,and stories that reflect their world, may contribute to an infant and toddler of color’s developing appreciation of self."

A challenge is made to illustrators to depict races beyond just changing skin color. Races themselves should be shown. I particularly liked the charge to expand Hispanic representation beyond Dora the Explorer:

"To address better the needs of Hispanic children, the publishing houses could commission Hispanic authors and illustrators, such as Pat Mora and David Diaz, to create “true” board books that provide multiple mirrors on the Hispanic experience. If nothing else, they could mine their backlists for appropriate picture book titles by Hispanic authors and illustrators to convert into board books."

Brava! Joan and I wholeheartedly agree.

The reader is then reminded that while we represent everyone, we must be careful not to perpetuate stereotypes.

The study concludes: "We believe that white privilege is apparent in the production and publication of board books....beginning in infancy children of color not only get the message from books that their lives and their stories are not important but also that to be white is better."

But if we produce the books, would they sell, you might ask? After noting amazing book purchase figures by Asian Americans and African Americans, the study concludes:

"If board books that featured people of color were published and appropriately marketed, it is likely that the publishing industry would find the endeavor to be financially rewarding. Appropriate marketing is key."

Readertotz applauds Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Ernie Cox for their study. We stand alongside them and challenge authors, illustrators, and publishers to represent all groups for our very youngest readers.

My New Baby: Rachel Fuller

A few weeks back I posted about Waiting for Baby. Of course the day will come when your totz will appreciate My New Baby. :~)



Here's the logical follow up and joyful help as your new baby arrives in your home. The text captures the wonder and happiness of a tot welcoming a sibling.

"My baby smells nice. Soft and warm.

Presents for the new baby! Is this for me?

Why does the baby always have milk?"

True to a child, voice is given to the observations and questions which naturally arise with a new baby in the family. The closing is particularly comforting:

"Sleep well! You're part of my family now.
Baby's fast asleep. Time for my story!"

In keeping with Waiting for Baby, illustrator Rachel Fuller uses fun texture swatches to accompany her watercolor and varied black outlines. The addition brings a vibrancy to the spreads.

Enjoy this board book with your tot now and possibly your new baby in the future. "This is what it was like when you were born..."

My New Baby
illustrated by Rachel Fuller
Child's Play, 2009

Poetry Friday: A Farmer Went Riding

A Farmer Went Riding

A farmer went riding
Upon his gray mare;
Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
With his daughter behind him,
So rosy and fair;
Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

A raven cried "Croak!"
And they all tumbled down;
Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
The mare broke her knees,
And the farmer his crown;
Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

The mischievous raven
Flew laughing away;
Bumpety, bumpety, bump!
And vowed he would serve them
The same the next day;
Lumpety, lumpety, lump!

Don't you think this is fun to recite with your tot on your knee? Happy Poetry Friday!

Michael Dahl: Duck Goes Potty

Duck Goes Potty is a sturdy 22-page board book. No novelty element this time. It's a cute story, with cute illustrations. The text is spare. Page one:

Duck wears DIAPERS.

The accompanying page one illustration of duck eyeing the diaper he wears is amusing and cute. When duck "misses" the new potty a couple of times, the evidence on the floor will have totz quacking up. I like that Mom is present, giving instructions, but we only see part of her and never see her face. It's nice that duck has mishaps along the way in his training, and even when he succeeds, he sometimes still forgets till the last minute and has to run for the potty. The ending is a gentle pat on the back for being a big duck now. Overall, an amusing, reassuring, cute book!

Michael Dahl is the popular author of many other books for children, including chapter books such as the Library of Doom and Princess Candy series.

Duck Goes Potty
Author: Michael Dahl
Illustrator: Oriol Vidal
Picture Window Books / Capstone

Poetry Friday: Jenny Wren

Jenny Wren

As little Jenny Wren
Was sitting by her shed,
She waggled with her tail,
And nodded with her head.
She waggled with her tail,
And nodded with her head,
As little Jenny Wren
Was sitting by the shed.

Photo from the BBC. Happy Poetry Friday!

July: Community Service

Help your tot pick those early summer flowers, dandelions will do, and share them with a neighbor.

Photo from GLiving, who will give you a great recipe for dandelion tea as well.

Kika, My First Word Book: Fukiko Yamamoto

How can you not love Kika? Just adorable! I want to squeeze this little bunny and never let go.

The start of this soft board book lists the upcoming, themed sections. Your totz will be exposed to Kika's family, house, feelings and more. The accompanying sight words are great reinforcement.

Author/illustrator Fukiko has given two images per spread throughout the book. With flat areas of color encased in thin black line, each page is slightly related to its opposite:

tree
leaf

car
bus

talk
listen

Kika's expressions, world, and friends will warm your heart. You'll be eager to talk your way through this delightful book with your totz. I want more Kika, Chronicle! Please. :~)

Kika, My First Word Book
by Fukiko Yamamoto
Chronicle Books, 2006

Photo Friday: Lorie Ann reads

I was known for licking the right hand index finger and turning the page with my left hand. :~)

Send me your photo, old or new, of a baby reading for Photo Friday! readertotzatclearwiredotnet

July: For the Older Sibling, Mary's Penny

I was instantly drawn to this quirky cover of Mary's Penny. Illustrator Richard Holland combines colored pencil and photo collage to create this traditional tale. There's a sense of history and novelty mixed together perfectly!

Author Tanya Landman says, "I've always found this traditional tale deeply satisfying." I had never heard it before, but I was definitely charmed by her retelling. As a father looks to leave his farm to one of his children, he gives each son a penny and charges them "to fill the whole house." Both sons fail, and it is the daughter, Mary, who speaks up, requests a penny, and wins the home. "It takes brains, not brawn, to run a farm."

Enjoy this work with the older sibling of your totz. Let the cleverness of Mary fuel conversations while you enjoy the sparse, fresh, funky art.

Mary's Penny
by Tanya Landman
illustrated by Richard Holland
Candlewick Press, 2010

Sara Gillingham: In My Nest

What makes little bird's nest so cozy? Soft feathers? Sure, but that's not all. Smooth leaves? Sure, but that's not all. In the end, there's a gentle, reassuring message: Bird's nest is so cozy because it's where his family lives.

There are lots of hole-in-the-book formats in stores these days. This one has an unusual twist, and it's one of the best. The cover has a large hole (the outer edge of the nest), and each successive page has a slightly smaller hole. This allows for a nest with a layered look, and displays the various things that go into nest-building. In the center is a soft, well-crafted blue bird finger puppet.

This is a wonderful concept, simply and beautifully illustrated, and it has heart. Nicely done!

Also take a look at the others in Sara's series: In My Pond, In My Tree, In My Den, In My Meadow, and In My Flower.

In My Nest
Author: Sara Gillingham
Illustrator: Lorena Siminovich
Chronicle Books, 2009

Poetry Friday: Bat, Bat

Bat, bat, come under my hat,
And I'll give you a slice of bacon;
And when I bake,
I'll give you a cake,
If I am not mistaken.

Maybe I was inspired by the release of the movie Eclipse. :~) Thanks to Dorling Kindersley for the clip art! Happy Poetry Friday!

Waiting for Baby: Rachel Fuller

The New Baby series from Child's Play is spot on accurate. Waiting for Baby reads like the inquisitive stream of questions from a tot awaiting a sibling.

"How big is the baby? What does it eat?
What's the doctor doing? Does it hurt?"

All the of questions invite you to discuss the topics further. I especially appreciate the inclusion of the ultrasound, for realism, and the father and child making dinner, for thoughtfulness.

Rachel Fuller's watercolors and graphite or grease pencil outlines are friendly and exuberant. Patterned areas break up the solid blocks of color nicely.

Introduce the concept of an upcoming new baby to your totz with Waiting for Baby.

Waiting for Baby
illustrated by Rachel Fuller
Child's Play, 2009

Photo Friday: Baby reading

Just ran across this on Photobucket. Too cute!



Feel free to send me your photos of your totz for Photo Friday! readertotzatclearwiredotnet

Totz Celebration: Who Was Jim Henson?

From time to time Lorie Ann and I celebrate our new books on readertotz. Today, I’m pleased to announce the release of my newest paperback chapter book biography in the “Who Was” series published by Grosset & Dunlap. Aka, the “big head” books. Just take a look at the cover to see how they got this nickname.

The new book is Who Was Jim Henson?

Answer: He was the man behind the Muppets. He was Kermit the frog. He was the heart and soul of Sesame Street. He was a private person. A silly, but serious one. A guy who loved his work, and who inspired others to be excited about puppetry. A man who wanted to make a difference.

Jim Henson died twenty years ago at age 53.

This is my third in the WW series, and I’m currently working on a fourth. I like this series because the books are written in a brisk, kid-friendly way, and they include factual sidebars with information about things kids really want to know. I read every biography on the shelf in my elementary school library (starting with the girl ones), and remain forever a biography fan. Biographies rock!

Some other cool books about Jim Henson:
Jim Henson: The Works - The Art, the Magic, the Imagination
Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles: A Muppet Sketchbook

Who Was Jim Henson?

Ages 7-12

Grosset & Dunlap, paperback

Author: Joan Holub

Rock & Roll Shapes: Salina Yoon

I love the sound this book makes. When you tilt the pages, a foil circle zips through a series of 5 windows, showcasing various shapes, such as a triangle, square, etc. It's hard to decide whether this is more 'toy' or more 'book'. But whichever you decide, it's clever and totz will love it. Very sturdy with a handle little hands can clutch, so they can carry this everywhere.
A-dor-a-ble!

There's a companion book called Rock & Roll Colors, which I haven't yet seen up close.

author-illustrator: Salina Yoon
publisher: Scholastic (Cartwheel) 2010

Photo Friday: Retro Summer

Doesn't this have the best nostalgia in the lighting and pool design? Love it!

Here's to a dip in the pool before reading another book with your totz! Happy Photo Friday. Send me your pics at readertotzatclearwiredotnet Show us your totz enjoying their summer!

July: Around the Block with Sesame Street

Happy July!

I want to start posting our sidebar content in blogs each month, so that we can still access it in the future. Otherwise it just drops as I update the site. Now, it hits me? Now I realize everyone might not have caught the community service idea and Around the Block with Sesame Street?

Well, there's always room for new thoughts, right? Here it goes for a new day. Feist is just adorable counting to 4. Your totz will be singing along with you, no doubt!

Into the Wild by Lerryn Korda

How about another adventure with Little Nye and his friends? One just in time for a summer vacation? When it's warm out and you have the urge to go into the wild, what might you need? Well, you need to be brave because of the mountain climbing and grizzlies. And you need to be okay in the dark when you go camping. Plus, you have to sit still a long time to fish. Little Nye and her friends are convinced they have what it takes and set out...to the other side of the yard.

I love the challenge that Gracie sets before her friends and how they all rise to meet it. The fact that they adventure in their own yard sets a realistic, fun example for totz.

Lerryn Korda, both author and illustrator of Into the Wild, creates such a unique blend of gouache and digital collage. The expansive white spaces hold flat color spaces, a uniform black line, and textured areas. Each spread is a surprise as the different elements combine in different ratios so successfully. The variety is a delight.

If you are headed out camping or your totz enjoy a backyard adventure, pick up Into the Wild.

Into the Wild
by Lerryn Korda
Candlewick Press, 2010

Photo Friday: Reading Hug Hug!

Here's a sweet tot, at a local signing, reading my Hug Hug! Adorable!

Happy Photo Friday! Send me your totz pics at readertotzatclearwiredotnet

An Open Letter to Children's Publishing

*Feel free to repost*
Published in Publishers Weekly.

Dear Children's Book Publishing Industry,

As I read PW's article, "An Impassioned Plea for Picture Books" by Judith Rosen, reporting on Ken Geist's plea for picture books at the NECBA meeting, I had a few thoughts.

As the article notes, most picture book print runs which were previously 20,000, now hover at 6,000. What I see as a reviewer of board books is an overwhelming number of picture books being published. So much mediocrity is being churned quickly through the presses, with the hope of one bestseller being found. Smaller runs support this effort to throw a multitude of stories into the pot while watching to see if one bubbles to the surface.

My challenge to you is to print fewer books. Dedicate and determine to publish only the very best, and then show us that you believe in that picture book with a larger print run and your full marketing dollars directly supporting it. Publishers, quiet the voices so that we might find and hear the book you believe in, the book that will touch parent and child, and foster readers for life.

As a corollary, I have to say that, yes, the picture book may create the lifelong reader, but even more likely, the board book will. A high quality, literary novelty or board book is often the child's first encounter with literature. In your pursuit this year to raise the profile of the picture book, don't forget the first books. Here is the reason Joan Holub and I continue to support readertotz. Board books are the roots of picture books. Let them be nourished as well.

Thank you for all you do for our children and literacy, publishers. Now show us your best.

Sincerely,

Lorie Ann Grover, author and illustrator