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At the 2015 CLA Workshop, award-winning authors and illustrators shared their thoughts on and processes for authentically including diversity in the books they create.
INSPIRED BY We Need Diverse Books (n.d.), "a grassroots organization created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children's literature...[and] to the ideal that embracing diversity will lead to acceptance, empathy, and ultimately equality" (para. 1), CLA's Thursday afternoon preconference workshop explored the perceived changes happening within the field of children's literature as related to diversity. The session focused on the need for all children to see themselves represented in the pages of the books they read. Workshop participants had the opportunity to hear authors and illustrators of children's literature who include and embrace diversity authentically in their works. Keynote speakers Stacey Lee, Sharon Draper, and Duncan Tonatiuh and panel participants Matt de la Peña, Shane Evans, Tim Federle, Varian Johnson, and Salina Yoon shared their personal experiences and thoughts on the importance of all people seeing themselves in books. Attendees also participated in a town hall questionand-answer session that extended the conversation to how classroom teachers may incorporate diverse children's literature into their teaching in meaningful and informative ways.
This workshop was inspired by scholars who found that books children read and are exposed to influence their sense of self and their value in the wider world (Chaudhri & Teale, 2013; Hall, 2008). They function "as a major socializing agent. [They tell] students who and what their society and culture values" (Bishop, 1990, p. 561).
Therefore, children need to see their faces and situations reflected through the pages of books, to learn who they are, and to learn that they matter. All children have this right, regardless of their ability, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or religion. "When children cannot identify with a book or see their lives celebrated through stories, it may have a negative impact on their self-image. The message they get is that their lives and their stories are not important" (Willett, 1995, p. 176).
Stacey Lee, the legal contact for We Need Diverse Books, started off the workshop with her inspiring talk, entitled "Where Are All the Mirrors, and Other Questions You Never Thought to Ask." She shared stories about her childhood and her...