Yolanda Scott (center) listens to Francisco Stork (right)
Hosted by CBC Diversity, co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons and the Horn Book, and presented in partnership with Children’s Books Boston, the gathering featured six authors (including me) speed-dating by briefly introducing our work at each of six tables, followed by discussion questions with participants about promoting diversity in children's groups. The "diversity" being considered was broad, including race, culture, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and physical and mental ability.
The event
"...brought together participants from a wide variety of fields: we had teachers, principals, librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, agents, academics, reviewers, bloggers—all united in our desire to promote and develop books that more adequately reflect the demographics and realities of the world in which we live."The report concludes with the action items generated by participants, concrete steps that can be taken to support diverse children's literature in homes, classrooms, libraries, editorial offices, bookstores, writers groups, blogs and websites, book reviews, awards committees, book clubs, summer reading lists, and more. See if there's an idea or two you can use.
