Friends, we still have so much work to do! Here's some information from the CCBC about diversity in kidlit. In their analysis of picture books published in 2017: Of the approximately 3,700 books received at the CCBC in 2017, most from U.S. publishers, here's the breakdown: 340 had significant African or African American content/characters. 100 of these...
Through color-coding in stores, kids "learn" which toys are "supposed" to be for girls or boy. Pink and yellow toys are considered "girly" and anything blue or dark green is obviously for boys, right? What about the toys themselves? Can boys play with dolls and girls play with trucks? Of course, they can. And that's the open-minded...
Guest Post By Deborah Salazar Shapiro The breeze was blowing in. I could smell and admire the vastness of the beautiful blue ocean. It was 2011. Next to me on the ferry, along with my husband-to-be, was a happy group of fellow travelers also on their way to the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of...
At MCBD, we are always on the lookout for beautiful diverse books that inspire while also having a deeper meaning. Thanks to a random email from author and publisher Debra Winegarten, we've discovered yet another nugget of children's book gold in the poetic family tale of Jewish prayer called Almost a Minyan. Joy and Sadness in a Charming...
guest post from author, Danual Berkley After getting out of the military, I self-published my first book Wonderful Magical Place. I did not know anything about publishing and marketing, so it didn’t do too well. I eventually gave up writing for several years until my wife encouraged me to get back into it. She thought it...