Free Webinar Alert: Writing, Translating, and Selecting Books for Young People

Image by Hermann Kollinger from Pixabay

Sign up for a free professional development opportunity through the International Literacy Association (ILA) and United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY):

ILA Webinar: Writing, Translating, and Selecting Book for Young People 
Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Location: Virtual
Website: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5eJOepb3Sgy46o0_B2NDRg

USBBY and ILA annually promote books with cultural significance for young people. USBBY selects the Outstanding International Books list, and ILA’s Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) selects the Notable Books for a Global Society list.

During this free ILA Webinar, representatives from both organizations will introduce their 2025 lists and share the importance and similarities between the two. Author and translator Lyn Miller-Lachmann, who has the honor of having books selected for both lists, will discuss her experience with writing and translating.

Participants will learn:

• New books to use in their classrooms to encourage students to engage with themes, characters, and settings from diverse cultural backgrounds
• The importance of international literature and how titles are selected for the annual book lists
• Insight into the experience and art of writing and translating a book

Who should register:

• School-based educators
• Librarians/media specialists
• Principals, teacher educators, and preservice teachers

The webinar is FREE for anyone. Registering gives you access to the live event and the on-demand recording.

CCBC Featured in Publishers Weekly

Last week saw the publication, in both the print and digital version of Publishers Weekly, of a fascinating article about the CCBC and their services entitled, "The Cooperative Children's Book Center Changes with the Times" (May 19, 2023 digital edition; May 23, 2023 print edition).

Along with many fascinating pieces of information, the CCBC shared the following comparison stats:

"Of the nearly 3,500 books received by the CCBC in 2022, 18% were by Asian authors and 11% were about Asian characters; 13% were by Black authors and 14% were about Black characters; 11% were by Latinx authors and 7% were about Latinx characters; 1.5% were by Indigenous authors and 1.7% were about Indigenous characters; and 0.4% were by Pacific Islander authors and 0.4% were about Pacific Islander characters.

In comparison, in 2012, the CCBC received 3,600 books. Of those, 2% were by Black authors and 3% featured Black characters; 2% were by Asian and Pacific Islanders authors and 2% featured Asian and Pacific Islander characters; 1.6% were by Latinx authors and 1.5% featured Latinx characters; and 0.2% were by Indigenous authors and 0.6% featured Indigenous characters."

It's exciting to see the continuing emphasis on authors of color and characters of color being published. We Need Diverse Books and the voices of other advocates throughout the country (and including the CCBC have helped create more authentic books that kids can see themselves in.

Congratulations to the CCBC!

LGBTQ+ YA Books to Read All Year Long, Courtesy of Epic Reads!

Epic Reads recently released a truly epic (yep, I went there) list of LGBTQ+ young adult reads!  Aw yiss... 🙌

Feast your peepers on THIS!

How many of these are already on your shelves?  Do you see any of your favorites?

Calendar of Diverse Reads

Image from Pixabay.

The National Education Association and Read Across America, two well-known organizations, offer a 12-month calendar of recommended books that promote diversity and inclusion. Each month focuses on a different topic and recommends three books, one book each for three age levels—elementary, middle grade, and young adult. View the resource here. 

There are a lot of possibilities for how you can use this resource—a reader's advisory booklist, a Beanstack challenge, a book club reading list….get creative with it! On the website, click on the cover of each recommended title to view activity suggestions, discussion questions, related resources, and read-alike titles.

Documentary—"Tell Me Another Story: Diversity in Children's Literature"

Check out this 30-minute, free access documentary called Tell Me Another Story: Diversity in Children's Literature. The film was produced by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and made available in October 2021.

This film is for you if...

• You enjoy touching and powerful reminders of why diversity in children's literature is important.
• You know diversity in children's literature is important, but you struggle to explain why it is important.
• You are looking for an advocacy tool or discussion tool to share with your community or library stakeholders.

To extend conversations on this topic, check out the the film's corresponding discussion guide, which you can use in "your classroom, boardroom, discussion group, or meeting hall."

Finally, check out the panel discussion that covers the making of the film.

Author and illustrator Grace Lin

Photo courtesy of EJK Foundation

Activist and author Marley Dias
Photo courtesy of EJK Foundation

Just Wondering - Where Do You Purchase Hard-to-Find Gems ?

Image by Eluj from Pixabay

This post by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian and YSS Board Member Susie Menk is thinking about where to purchase the wealth of diverse titles when they are not available through large jobbers. And she's wondering....what do you think?

There has been a great deal of talk in library services about equity, diversity, and inclusivity.  As a result, has shifted to more inclusive and diverse books.  So I’m wondering, what sources do you use for purchasing your books?

Our library mostly buys books from Baker & Taylor, with some books purchased through Amazon.  Special collections sometimes have their own distributor, like Thorndike for large print books and Blackstone Audio for audio titles.  Foreign language books are ordered from specialized distributors as we can find them.  Seedlings Braille Books and Lakeshore Learning give us other specialty books, like Braille copies and big books.  

Now we need to find diverse and inclusive books.  Unfortunately, many of the regular distributors don’t carry a large selection of diverse and inclusive books so we have to look elsewhere.  Many ethnic authors self-publish or publish with smaller, lesser known companies.  This makes them hard to find unless they become award winners or bestsellers. 

We have tools and websites for checking if a book portrays a culture accurately.  Websites like American Indians in Children’s Literature, Hijabi Librarians and CCBC’s Diversity Book Search give us ways to check if a book is true to a specific culture or ethnicity.  TeachingBooks through BadgerLink also has lists that can be filtered for various cultural experiences. This is all great, but it still begs the question—where can I purchase these books?

Due to the increased interest and demand for diverse and inclusive books, Baker & Taylor has added a publication on their website called Diversity & Inclusion.  Another website is Diverse Book Finder which collects books that are diverse and inclusive and helps identify the traits of books as well as the publishers of the book.

So you look through all these great diverse and inclusive book lists and think “YES, I want that book on my shelves!” and then you go to B&T and can’t find it.  Now what?  Where do I go?  Will my library let me purchase books from other distributors? I might be able to find it on Amazon, but if not, where do I go?  Is it easy for you to ask to get books from small independent publishing companies?  What about looking at used book websites?  Could I partner with a local bookstore and get books that I want through them?  

Where do you go for those hard to find little gems of diverse and inclusive books?  “Me, myself and I want to know!” (Rita Skeeter, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

ICYMI: Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices, now on Netflix!

"...Netflix will begin streaming a 12-episode live-action preschool series that will use books to spark difficult conversations, give power to Black voices, and spotlight Black children's authors. 

Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices is hosted by 15-year-old Marley Dias. The teen author, activist, and founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks is also the show's executive producer. Dias is among the Black authors, athletes, actors, musicians, and comedians, who read aloud to viewers. Joining her are Common, who reads Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester; Tiffany Haddish, who reads We March by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley; and Jacqueline Woodson, who reads her book, The Day You Begin, among others. 

'Many of us have turned to books to navigate hard conversations around topics like race, representation, and self-love with our kids,' Heather Tilert, Netflix director of original animation, preschool, said in the series announcement. Those books and conversations were the inspiration for the series, which will bring 'children’s stories from prolific Black creators centering around themes of identity, respect, justice and action to the screen,' according to Tilert."

The episodes will be available both on Netflix proper and on the Netflix Jr. YouTube channel, making them accessible for everyone, regardless of whether or not they have a Netflix account.

To see the official press release and list of titles, authors, and readers, click HERE.

Evaluating Children's Books About Police

In an opinion piece posted today on SLJ.com, Amy Martin from Oakland Public Library revisited the evaluation of police picture books.  In many, many cases, the representation is completely one-sided, depicting the police as community helpers and someone to be called upon for help.  While this is true for some police officers, it's not always the case and these books do a disservice to children and their families who have had very different interactions with law enforcement, invalidating their experiences.  "Presenting police as community helpers without a counterpoint available—that police might harm them—is gaslighting for children who see police brutality in their home, in their neighborhood, on TV, and on their parents’ phones."

Looking to make sure your police collection represents a wide range of experiences?  Consider utilizing Evaluating Children's Books about Police, a 2017 toolkit from Oakland Public Library.  

 

Helping Kids Fall in Love . . . with BOOKS!

MICHELLE MARTIN / SHUTTERSTOCK / THE ATLANTIC

Just this week over at the Atlantic, Ashley Fetters interviewed University of Washington professor Michelle Martin, a children's library services specialist.   Martin is working to give librarians and teachers tools for connecting students of all backgrounds to books that will make them fall in love with reading.  Her stand-out creation, Camp Read-A-Rama, is a melding of her passion for outdoor learning and enthusiasm for children's literature.  Martin calls her approach "reducing the distance between books and life."  Find out why and how she has successfully engaged children, families, and educators with her dedication and innovation HERE.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Gets Its Own Indigenous Language Translation

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, an Eric Carle classic, recently celebrated its 50th birthday!  Happy birthday, TVHC!  🎂🎈



But the celebrations don't end there!  The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into at least 40 different languages...and recently, an Aboriginal language that was thought "virtually extinct" only three years ago now has its own translation of this beloved work!

"The Yuwi language of the Yuibera and Yuwibara traditional owners in the Mackay region has no fluent living speakers, and was considered extinct by the State Library of Queensland in 2015.

But thanks to a massive revival effort, a small group of volunteers has collated 1,000 words of Yuwi vocabulary, enough to translate the story, which turns 50 on June 3.

Yuibera and Yuwibara children in Mackay can now hear the story in their ancestors' words and the volunteers plan to translate local Indigenous stories into children's books next."

Even cooler?  The United Nations has officially dubbed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages!



Click HERE to read the whole article, originally published by Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

How Diverse WERE Kid's Books Published in 2018?

It is always great news when Sarah Park Dahlen and David Huyck collaborate to produce a clear infographic of how diverse books published for youth are.  Their stats are based on the great work of our Cooperative Children's Book Center at UW-Madison School of Education. The inventory the CCBC does is based on 3, 134 books published in 2018.

There were significant changes from the  first iteration  of this infographic in 2015 but IMHO, there is a long way to go.

What can we do as youth library staff to help increase the number of diverse youth books?

• Buy them
• Highlight, display, booktalk them and use them consistently in programs
• Promote them at every opportunity with colleagues in your networks
• Be vocal in demanding from publishers and jobbers more #ownvoices #weneeddiversebooks titles

We all can play an important part in this work!

To access this infographic and read more about the work, please stop by Sarah Park Dahlen's blog.

Arbuthnot Lecture Livestream!

Did you miss your chance to snag a ticket for "Indigenous Critique of Whiteness in Children's Literature," the upcoming Arbuthnot Lecture by Dr. Debbie Reese?



You can view it on Wisconsin Public Television livestream online!



The lecture will be held on Saturday, April 13th at 7:30pm, with livestream viewing available HERE.

Want more information?  Here's the original press release:

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center along with the UW-Madison iSchool and UW-Madison School of Education were selected to host this year’s Arbuthnot lecture, sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) of the American Library Association. Support is also being provided by the Friends of the CCBC, Inc. and the Ho-Chunk Nation.

Dr. Debbie Reese is a critic and scholar whose research and writings on representation of Indigenous people in children’s and young adult literature have informed the work of librarians and teachers and other scholars across the country. Her work, including on her American Indians in Children’s Literature web site and blog, is an essential resource for practitioners today.

Click HERE to explore the American Indians in Children's Literature website and blog.

Thanks to the ever-fabulous Tessa Michaelson Schmidt for keeping us up-to-date on all the rad opportunities available to us, including the email informing us about this very livestream!

EDIT: I was also informed that the livestream will be recorded and the link location will be shared after the event.  Thanks again, Tessa!

22 Diverse Book Choices for All Grade Levels

Tom Berger, over at Edutopia recently compiled a list of teacher-recommended diverse books for every grade level.  From Last Stop on Market Street (Matt de la Pena) for the Pre-K - 2nd grade crew to They Both Die at the End (Adam Silvera) for high-schoolers, this list is not exhaustive, but definitely worth a look!  Berger notes that: "We hope they reflect human diversity in the broadest sense, addressing race and ethnicity, religion, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and other special circumstances."

Check out the full list HERE.

November is Native American Heritage Month

As librarians, we know how important it is that kids see themselves in books--and see others in books, as well.  #weneeddiversebooks, aimirite?! 

When is the last time you assessed your collection for books/titles containing Indigenous characters?

“Most of what kids see in books today are best sellers & classics that stereotype & misrepresent Native people in history. There’s a lot of bias in them. The books that I recommend are ones that can counter that bias in several ways. One, they’re not stereotypical. Two, most of them are set in the present day, which is important in countering what we see in a lot of children’s & young adult literature, which says that we vanished, we didn’t make it to the present day, and of course we did.” 
     - Debbie Reese, Nambe Pueblo, of American Indians in Children’s Literature

At this year's WLA, Valerie Morris of Whitefish Bay Public Library presented on just such a topic during her session, Experiences in Weeding Insensitive Picture Books About Native Americans.  The PowerPoint about the presentation is now available on the WLA website--and through THIS LINK.

Perhaps you're looking for more books written and/or illustrated by Indigenous people to help enhance your collection?  Try the blog American Indians in Children's Literature!  Or take a gander at this delightful booklist containing titles for children written by Indigenous authors.

  

For an idea how best to select and utilize these titles in your programming/classrooms/what-have-you, be sure to check out the following article from the July 2018 edition of Language Arts written by Debbie Reese: Critical Indigenous Literacies: Selecting and Using Children’s Books about Indigenous Peoples.  

Here are a few other online resources to explore:

National Congress of American Indians
Wisconsin First Nations: American Indian Studies in Wisconsin

 

Children's Book Council Launches New Diversity Award

From the CBC's press release:

The Children’s Book Council, the nonprofit trade association for children’s publishers in North America, has announced the launch of the CBC Diversity Outstanding Achievement Awards program. Beginning this fall, the awards will be given annually in recognition of children’s publishing professionals who have helped bring greater diversity to the creation of books for young readers and to the industry’s employment methods.

Qualifications for the award include the publishing and marketing of inclusive books; fostering diversity in hiring and mentoring practices; and contributing to initiatives that promote public awareness of the importance of diverse stories.

Read more about it here.

Thanks to Appleton Public Library's Tasha Saecker @tashrow for tweeting the link!

#OwnVoices

Not sure what the whole #OwnVoices thing is?  Here's some good info about what it is and why it matter to people who work with kids and teens.  #OwnVocies is the latest hashtag in the fight for more diverse books.  It is used to recommend novels with diverse characters whose author hails from that same diverse group.  It began in a tweet from author Corinne Duyvis and has spread and sparked discussion about what authentic voices look like in novels.  So, to make your journey into the #OwnVoices discussion a bit easier, I have compiled some articles, booklists, and other fun goodies!

Corinne Duyvis website
Read Brightly article
YA Interrobang Twitter highlights
CCBC African/African America #OwnVoices Books
CCBC LAtinx #OwnVoices Books
Goodreads #OwnVoices Booklists

StoryWeaver - Free Multi-Language Kid's Lit Resource

On Book Riot today, there is a great article about an open source platform that makes children's stories available in over 100 languages on an open platform.

Developed by Pratham Books, an Indian not-for-profit publisher, the resource has a diverse, multilingual treasure trove of children's literature: "the stories are in ~100 languages, currently, including “the mainstream Indian and European languages, minority languages like Konkani and Tibetan, tribal languages like Kora and Santali, classical languages like Sanskrit, and endangered languages like Kurdish.”

Read all about it here.

Diverse Read-Aloud's from WI's Read-Aloud Guru, Rob Reid

Rob Reid has been teaching future teachers and librarians for 20+ years - and writing books and articles on excellent read-alouds.

Here is his latest article from Booklist with his recommendations on excellent read-alouds that bring diverse voices to kid's ears!

2018 Youth Titles with South Asian Characters, Courtesy of Teen Vogue

Teen Vogue recently posted a slideshow containing 2018 books featuring South Asian characters!

Any of these destined for your shelves?  Or your TBR list?

https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/9-south-asian-characters-books-2018

Diverse Books and Badgerlink

"It's such an old song that we can sing along in harmony and no where is it stronger than" the library!  DIVERSITY.  Diverse books, diverse programs, diverse lib guides, it is all about diversity at the library.  And Badgerlink is here to help!  Looking for books with diverse characters?  Check out the resources at Badgerlink HERE.