SCBWI

Society of
Children's Book Writers
and Illustrators

Equity and Inclusion Resources for Writers and Illustrators

List of Resources on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion:

 

Basics:

  • SCBWI’s Equity and Inclusion Page

https://www.scbwi.org/equity-and-inclusion/

  • SCBWI’s Statement of Intent on Equity and Inclusion

https://www.scbwi.org/scbwi-statement-of-intent-on-equity-and-inclusion/

  • SCBWI’s list of organizations and resources supporting Black lives

https://www.scbwi.org/black-lives-matter-resources/

  • Straight Talk on Race, by Mitali Perkins: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids’ Books: “Here are five questions that’ll help you and your students discern messages about race in stories.”

http://www.slj.com/2009/04/standards/straight-talk-on-race-challenging-the-stereotypes-in-kids-books/

  • We Need Diverse Books: Resources for individuals and groups involved in many levels of children’s publishing

www.diversebooks.org

  • Cooperative Children’s Book Center: Children’s Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States.

http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu

  • School Librarian Talks to Students About ‘Whitewashing’ Children’s Book Covers, by Allie Bruce: A librarian discusses how a question from a student led to a series of conversations about the representation of race on book covers.

https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=bank-street-school-librarian-shares-her-year-long-lesson-in-diversity-in-childrens-books

 

  • The Danger of a Single Story, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A Ted Talk on why no culture can be represented by one story.

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

Reading While White—Allies for Racial Diversity and Inclusion in Books for Childrens and Teens.

http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

 

Celebrating Our Diversity:

  • Inclusion on the Bookshelf, By Camille Jackson: “The lives of children with disabilities are adventurous, funny, romantic and active. There are many books available that contain characters with disabilities, but few that truly embrace social inclusion.”

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/feature/inclusion-bookshelf

  • Seeing Ourselves and Seeing Others in the Pages if the Books we Read, by Jess Lifshitz: “[E]very single child that walks through my classroom door deserves to see himself or herself in a book in my library.  And every single child that walks through my classroom door deserves a chance to learn about others in this world from the books in my library.”

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2015/02/02/seeing-ourselves-and-seeing-others-in-the-pages-of-the-books-we-read-by-jess-lifshitz/

  • Suggested Reading for the ALSC Day of Diversity 

http://dia.ala.org/dayofdiversity

  • American Indians in Children’s Literature (book reviews and recommendations): “provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children’s and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society.”

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

  • February is African American History Month by Sandy Brehl: African American characters and themes should be shared all year long, not just during February as part of Black History Month activities.

http://unpackingpicturebookpower.blogspot.com/2012/02/whats-so-special-about-february.html

  • Five Gay Picture-Book Prodigies and the Difference They’ve Made, by Barbara Bader: Diverse creators Maurice Sendak, Arnold Lobel, James Marshall, Remy Charlip, and Tomie dePaola who’s brilliance and prodigy status shaped the direction of kid lit- for the better.

https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=five-gay-picture-book-prodigies-and-the-difference-theyve-made

 

Craft:

  • Writing inclusion isn’t about representing as many different things as possible, it is about readers finding a space for themselves in our stories, by Cory Silverberg: “Inclusion creates a space for them to explore not only multiple parts of their experience but also how those experiences are woven together in their bodies and lives.”

https://www.cbcbooks.org/2013/09/25/cbc-diversity-checking-boxes-and-filling-blanks-diversity-and-inclusion-in-childrens-literature/

  • Writing With Color: A blog dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial & ethnic diversity. We share writing advice, guides, book recs. and more.

http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/95955707903/skin-writing-with-color-has-received-several

  • Describing Skin Tone, by WriteWorld: A discussion and list of resources.

https://writeworld-blog.tumblr.com/post/55657925946/describing-skin-tone

  • Ableism/Language, by Lydia X. Z. Brown: A glossary of Ableist Phrases

http://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html

  • Racism Begins in our imagination: by Grisel Y Acosta : “We’d like to imagine that racism is only created with extreme acts, like bombs or chains. The truth is racism begins in our imagination. It begins with our stories.”

http://www.salon.com/2015/02/22/racism_begins_in_our_imagination_how_the_overwhelming_whiteness_of_boyhood_feeds_dangerous_hollywood_myths/

 

 

Many thanks to SCBWI-Wisconsin for this great compilation (https://wisconsin.scbwi.org), and we welcome suggested additions to this list.

 

If you would like to join our Eastern PA SCBWI Equity & Inclusion Volunteer Team, please send us an e-mail at epa@scbwi.org.