By Valerie Budayr Multicultural Children’s Book Day Not long ago, I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing publisher, Philip Lee. As one of the former founders of Lee & Low Books, Philip left the company in 2004 to create…
By Rachel Harrison Futurity A new study finds a startling scarcity of children’s books for sale in low-income neighborhoods in Detroit, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. The lack of children’s books was even more pronounced in areas with…
By Stell Simonton Juvenile Justice Information Exchange Every young life starts out with promise, and the adults who love a child yearn for that child to have a bright future. But what if a simple barrier at an…
CBC Diversity A little over a year ago, Kate Messner took up the #WeNeedDiverseBooks cause and spurred the handselling phenomenon that was The Great Greene Challenge. This holiday season, the We Need Diverse Books team hopes to catapult…
LatinaLista — Campaign: BEDTIME STORIES – CUENTOS by deported parents Sophia is an educator, artist and activist in San Diego, CA dedicated to using the arts for both social change and healing. For the past six months she has…
LatinaLista — Last year, Dr. Viviana Hurtado and Monica “Mommy Maestra” Olivera of Latinas for Latino Lit (L4LL) broke ground by launching the first-ever online Latino children’s summer reading program. Concerned about the poor literacy rates among Latino children…
LatinaLista — Mexican storytelling and art have never been independent of one another. One genre that has long illustrated this symbiotic relationship is children’s literature. Last year, at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State College…
By Wendy Lamb Children’s Book Council Diversity Wendy Lamb: Can you please tell me something of your background, and your work in children’s books? Ruth Tobar:I worked as Publisher and Executive Director at Children’s Book Press and have been…
LatinaLista — With a name like Duncan Tonatiuh, it’s understandable if there’s some confusion over his background. Yet, one glimpse at any of the picture books he has authored and illustrated leaves no doubt as to the cultural pride…
LatinaLista — While there has always been debate as to whether or not English should be declared the ‘official’ language of the United States — currently, there are over 20 states that enacted laws or adopted amendments declaring it…
LatinaLista — A 2011 Pew study found that there were more Latinas serving in the military than Latinos. It’s a trend that will only continue since some undocumented Latina teens waiting for immigration reform have declared their intent to…
LatinaLista — Rafael López doesn’t see the world as black and white. He sees the world pulsating with vibrant color and larger-than-life characters which has enabled him to be regarded as one of the most talented Latino illustrators in…
By Adriana Dominguez CBC Diversity English is not my first language, though this statement doesn’t ring quite as true now that I have spent most of my life living in the United States, speaking and working in English. But…
By Elizabeth Bluemle CBC Diversity For sixteen years, I’ve been a bookseller in small-town, semi-rural Vermont, in a region that is progressive but fairly homogenous. I spend a lot of time introducing people to new books I think they…
By Cheryl Klein CBC Diversity One of the goals of the CBC Diversity Committee is to recruit a wider, more diverse range of people to work in the children’s publishing industry. In service of this goal, committee members visit…
LatinaLista — While the Obama Administration would prefer to make race a footnote issue, a new study illustrates that race is very much an issue regarding Newbery-awarded children’s books and warrants serious attention. While every New Year is seen…
LatinaLista — There’s a new book blog in cyberspace these days. Yet, unlike Latina Lista’s own Bookshelf that basically reviews non-fiction books for the adult market, the Latin Baby Book Club (LBBC) reviews books — can you guess —…
