Diverse Children’s Books Can Change the World

When my son arrived, I established a goal to read two books a day with him. Together, we read a variety of books featuring animals, shapes, children and letters. I enjoyed picture books where I was able to make up my own bedtime story for him. During those moments, I would usually make him the leading character and use his favorite toys or foods all throughout the story. A few months into our reading time, I began to take inventory of the children’s books within our home library. I became intrigued by the lack of diversity within the children’s books within our home and specifically the lack of everyday stories featuring young Black boys as the protagonist.

I started to get more specific on the type of book that I was looking for featuring a young Black boy. Many people love the children’s book I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. It is a story of a mother who loves her son and follows their journey from the son being raised by his mother until the son ends up being the caregiver for his mother until she dies. I loved this story and the bond that it represents between a mother and her son. I felt confident that I would be able to find this everyday story told with mothers and sons from different cultural backgrounds. I decided to look online to see if I could find a few versions of this book and surprisingly, I could not find it. Instead, I found that there were more books with animals and trucks as the protagonist than there were about people of Color.

My entire life I have been exposed to the positive images of Black boys through my own personal encounters. Alternatively, I have watched the media publish demonizing images and stereotypes of Black boys that did not match my everyday experience.

As a parent, I am passionate about marrying the media images of Black boys with the actual joy and experience that exists within my everyday life. I believe that once the two images match that society will begin to see Black boys as humans and not “things” such as a thug or athletes. The labels that are put on Black boys allow society to detach itself from the idea that Black boys are indeed humans that are loved by their mothers and bring joy to those around them.

Join us on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, as the library hosts its second annual celebration of the National African American Read-In, an event for the entire family. This event will be live-streamed on the library’s YouTube & Facebook Pages, and there, myself and a few other panelists will be expounding on this topic.

To see more information on the 2nd Annual National African American Read-In, click here.

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This blog was written by author and National African American Read-In panelist Charlitta Hatch