numbers don’t lie–do they?
Ok, so now that I’ve compiled this list of books published in Canada, it’s time for the analysis. I have to begin by saying I am truly heartened by the number of books about black people that are available for children in Canada today. Of course, I don’t know if all of the books I listed are available in all schools and public libraries, but any parent who’s looking for black books in Canada should be able to find *something* for their child to read. Will that book about blacks be written BY a black Canadian author? Maybe not. I’m not going to go into the whole “should white folks write about black folks” debate. I’d just like to point out that on average, for the past ten years, only a couple of black writers have had a book for children published by a Canadian press. So far, I haven’t been able to find a YA novel that has a black protagonist and is set in contemporary Canada. But if you’re reading these posts and notice some glaring omissions, please do leave a comment with the authors and/or titles I ought to add. I am still waiting to hear back from some presses, and of course, I haven’t at all considered the content of French-language books published in Canada.
Children’s Books By and About Black People
Published in Canada 2000-2010
Year |
Number of English-Language Books |
|
|
|
By |
About |
||
| 2010 | 500 | 5 |
9 |
| 2009 |
500 |
6 |
20 |
|
2008 |
500 |
3 |
10 |
|
2007 |
500 |
3 |
15 |
|
2006 |
500 |
4 |
9 |
|
2005 |
500 |
3 |
6 |
|
2004 |
500 |
2 |
13 |
|
2003 |
500 |
2 |
4 |
|
2002 |
500 |
2 |
5 |
|
2001 |
500 |
3 |
7 |
|
2000 |
500 |
2 |
2 |
*the Canadian Children’s Book Centre
I come from a family of black people who can pass for white, so it’s entirely possible that I attributed the wrong race to an author by relying solely on an online photograph. But assuming I got it right *most* of the time, that still means that in the past ten years, less than 20 black children’s literature authors were published in Canada (some have multiple titles):
- Richardo Keens-Douglas (3)
- Dirk McLean
- Adwoa Badoe (3)
- Rosemary Sadlier
- Carmelita Robertson
- Bryan Prince
- Gail Nyoka
- Afua Cooper (3)
- Adrienne Shadd
- Fil Fraser
- Teresa Cardenas (3)
- Christopher Paul Curtis
- Shauntay Grant
- Itah Sadu
- Baba Wagué Diakité
- Cheryl Foggo
- Andre Alexis
- Bernadette Gabay Dyer
- Gloria Ann Wesley
I thought it might be interesting to compare the Canadian stats to those professionally compiled in the US by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (another CCBC). You can find the original tables here. It should be noted that the CCBC combines authors & illustrators, whereas I only counted authors.
Children’s Books By and About Blacks
Published in the U.S.
2000-2009
Year |
Total Number of Books Published (Est.) |
Number of Books Received at CCBC |
African / African Americans |
|
| By | About | |||
| 2009 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 83 | 157 |
| 2008 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 83 | 172 |
| 2007 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 77 | 150 |
| 2006 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 87 | 153 |
| 2005 | 5,000 | 2,800 | 75 | 149 |
| 2004 | 5,000 | 2,800 | 99 | 143 |
| 2003 | 5,000 | 3,200 | 79 | 171 |
| 2002 | 5,000 | 3,150 | 69 | 166 |
| 2001 | 5,000-5,500 | 99 | 201 |
| 2000 | 5,000-5,500 | 96 | 147 |
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