decolonize kid lit

The CCBC has posted its findings for 2015, and they are as disappointing as ever. They separate the books into categories—by, about, and by but not about. Keep in mind they review over 3000 books each year:

• 261 books had significant African or African American content
• 86 of these were by Black authors and/or illustrators
• 100 books were by Black book creators
• 14 of these had no visible African/African-American cultural content

• 41 books had American Indian / First Nations themes, topics, or characters
  • 17 of these were by American Indian/First Nations book creators
• 18 books were by American Indian / First Nations authors and/or illustrators
  • 1 of these had no visible American Indian/First Nations content

• 111 books had significant Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content
  • 43 of these were by Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American
• 173 books were by authors and/or illustrators of Asian/Pacific heritage
  • 130 of these had no visible Asian/Pacific or Asian/Pacific American content

• 82 books had significant Latino content
  • 40 of these were by Latino/a authors and/or illustrators
• 57 books were by Latino/a authors and/or illustrators
  •  17 of these had no visible Latino content

So if there were 261 books published ABOUT Black folks but only 86 of those books were BY Black folks, then that means white folks wrote 161 books about Black people. Are you ok with that? I’m not. And once again we see Asian Pacific American authors writing mostly about white people—they wrote 130 books with NO APA content and only 43 books with APA content. Time to DECOLONIZE…

In other news, my new picture book will be out soon. Look for A HAND TO HOLD soon!