Why a Diverse Library Is Important for Your Child
The events of the past several weeks have prompted many important discussions regarding topics like implicit bias, intersectionality, and white privilege, among others. Many of us have realized the need to stop and reflect on our own practices, both personal and professional. I am fortunate to work in a department with individuals who are challenging me to rethink my own biases through discussions surrounding how these important issues impact our teaching practices and the overall culture of our university. As a group we are exploring resources like this guide to allyship (https://guidetoallyship.com/) and the powerful and informative book, So You Want to Talk About Race? by Ijeoma Oluo. Through this process, we are reexamining our classroom materials, assignments, and even the resources we provide to our students. This eye-opening process has also made me realize the need to reexamine my clinical materials - things like picture cards and children’s books that I use during therapy sessions.
When it comes to children’s books in particular, I’ve realized that the level of diversity in my own library is extremely low. There is no excuse for the fact that I hadn’t thought about this until now, but I can say with absolute certainty I will not overlook this again.
Here I’d like to share some information about the importance of including a diverse selection of books when reading with your child as well as some of my favorite books with diverse characters, books that explore diversity, and tips for increasing your child’s exposure to a variety of races and cultures.
The Importance of Early Exposure
It may come as a surprise when I tell you that very young children actually show racial biases. Even infants are aware of race. We can’t ignore the research. Babies are aware of individuals of a different race as early as 3 months of age. You can find evidence here, here, and even a meta-analysis here. And these are just a few examples. Infants are aware of people who look different from themselves and their immediate family. No, this doesn’t mean that your baby is doing anything wrong, or that you’ve somehow taught them to react this way, it just means that babies naturally respond when they encounter people who look different from those that typically surround them. What this also indicates is that babies are already paying attention! Which makes this issue even more important early on. Findings of this research study suggest that infants gradually become more sensitive to faces from their own ethnic group (due to greater exposure to these faces) as opposed to other racial groups. Again, this demonstrates that infants are already paying attention to racial differences.
It's normal for kids to react when they encounter someone who they perceive as being “different” from the people they are normally surrounded by. Again, kids can be very observant. They might seem nervous or hesitate to interact as freely with someone who they perceive as “different”. By exposing them early on to a variety of races and cultures, we can help to normalize these differences. And celebrate these differences.
Embrace differences
If we want diversity to become a natural part of a child’s life, we need to expose them to it early on. The earlier the better. There are several ways to accomplish this. One way is to help your child to learn how to learn from other cultures. How do you do this? By setting a good example! Talking about cultural differences and embracing these differences can help to give your child awareness. Even if you think your child is too young to understand exactly what you’re talking about, this early exposure can still be very meaningful. For example, if you’re reading a book that mentions a cultural practice that is different from your own, maybe a certain way to celebrate a holiday, elaborate on that and talk about these differences with your child. Yes, even your infant or toddler! Regardless of how much they understand, you’re still providing some great language input, including new vocabulary and concepts, all while exposing your child to these great cultural differences.
Another great way to set an example is by promoting and discussing inclusive messages. By inclusive, I mean messages that express equality and kindness to those who are different from ourselves. And this can actually be accomplished through book reading! Selecting books with characters of several different racial backgrounds is a great way to do this. You can also use books to teach your child stories of empowerment. These stories help to teach your little one that they can achieve their big dreams. Several of the books I have listed below include stories of Black individuals, and some, in particular, feature Black female characters and stories of empowerment. Selecting empowering stories that feature diverse characters can help to teach your child about equality and compassion for all as well as send messages of positivity and perseverance. You can’t go wrong!
Remember the Importance of Imitation
We have to remember that children learn by imitating us. We can’t think that educating our children will be enough, we must educate ourselves as well! As I mentioned before, this month has been a call to action for me to educate myself as much as possible. If we address our own prejudices head on, it will be much easier to pass those desired behaviors and beliefs to our children. If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, you know I always harp on modeling - modeling good speech and language. Here I’m talking about modeling kindness towards others. The principles are the same. This is how children learn. So first off, check your own behaviors/prejudices/beliefs and make sure you educate yourself. Even before your child can talk, they are observing the world and learning from it, and learning from your actions and behaviors. When we are open to learning, we can instill that behavior in children.
Tips for Diversifying Your Reading Materials:
Here are some simple tips to help you to diversify your child’s library and guide you in incorporating all of the important principles discussed above.
Check the library! Right now many libraries across the country are featuring books by Black authors and books that feature diverse characters. Take advantage of this and use your library’s recommendations. Explore the book shelves in the children’s section - you’ll most likely find a few books you’ve never seen before. Look specifically for books that feature characters of different races and cultures. If you feel your local library is lacking in this area, request books by authors of color that address diversity.
Elaborate. As you are reading, elaborate on topics and characters. Point out and discuss the character’s differences. If you feel the text itself is too advanced for your little one, that’s ok! Improvise. Some of the text might feel uncomfortable for you to try and summarize, and that’s ok, just do your best. Remember, even talking about pictures is great. Having open conversations with your child about race and culture sets a great example for them and provides them with a foundation of knowledge and understanding which they will benefit from now and in the future.
Keep researching! Ask your librarian for book recommendations and ask friends for tips on how they are handling these important issues with children of similar ages.
Refresher on how to keep reading time FUN. If you’ve taken my mini-course on how to make reading fun for you and your child, these tips should sound very familiar. First of all, when it comes to reading with your child, YOU make the rules. You get to decide how long you read, what you read, and how you’re reading. Have fun with it. Make up words to go along with pictures, and talk about pictures in new ways. Point to things in pictures and discuss what you’re looking at. As I mentioned previously, if there is too much text on the page, simplify or make up your own. The point is to keep your child engaged and interested. Especially when reading with young children, try to keep your language simple so they can easily follow along. And finally, make sure you’re having fun! If you are enjoying this time, chances are your child will too. Use this time to focus on bonding and helping your child to learn.
Last but not least, here are some books that I love which feature diverse characters and stories as well as a link to a compilation of antiracism resources which was shared with me by my wonderful sister (who I would highly recommend following on Instagram at www.instagram.com/paigeallbookedup if you’re looking for fantastic book reviews for adults!).
