Thursday, November 3, 2011

from Lee & Low

Diversity 101: Five Things to Look for Before You Read
When it comes to diversity, all books are not created equal. Before you add a new book to your library, here are five things to look out  for:

1.General Accuracy: Books should contain current, correct information. How old are the photos and pictures? If the book is about a past event, does it include backmatter about how things ultimately played out?

2. Stereotypes: Beware of reinforcing stereotypes. Books should reflect individual people's lives, rather than assigning general personality traits or behaviors to an entire group.

3. Language: Be careful of books that separate characters into two groups: those who speak standard English and those who don't. This division can reinforce stereotypes that all people in a group speak in a particular way. No matter the dialect, language should sound natural and the intent should be clear.

4. Illustrations: Illustrations should convey the reality that members of any ethnic group look different from one another.

5. Author's Perspective: Does the author come from the culture that he or she is writing about? If not, what kind of research did he or she do to insure cultural authenticity?

Read the full article here.

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Lee & Low Books is an independent children's book publisher specializing diversity. It is our goal to meet the need for stories that all children can identify with and enjoy.