#1000BlackGirlBooks and Diversity in Children's Books

The Brian Lehrer Show | Jan 29, 2016

An 11-year-old West Orange, New Jersey girl named Marley Dias told her mother she was tired of reading books about white boys and dogs. So she decided to do something about it.

Her idea has morphed into the project #1000BlackGirlBooks, which seeks (by Monday!) to collect books featuring black girls as the main characters. You can suggest books for their collection on Twitter using the hashtag.

Tweet #1000BlackGirlBooks

Brooklyn author Zetta Elliott and Jason Low, publisher at Lee & Low Books, the largest multicultural children's book publisher int he country, talk about the issue of diversity in books for children and teens.

The diversity gap in children's books - that is, the percentage of books by or about people of color - was 14% in 2014.

(Lee & Low Books, Inc.)

Listener-Suggested Books (add your own below!)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Bright April by Marguerite De Angeli
One Crazy Summer, PS Be 11, Gone Crazy in Alabama, and Blue Tights by Rita Garcia Williams
Blast Off by Linda C. Cain and Susain Rosenbaum
The Black Girl’s Guide to College Success by Sheryl Walker
Sunne’s Gift by Ama Karikari Yawson

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