Judy Allen Dodson remembers reading The Magic Tree House series to her seven-year-old son when he asked, 鈥淢ommy, how come I don鈥檛 see me? Any children that look like me in there?鈥� 鈥�
And I said, 鈥榊ou know what, I鈥檓 going to write you that story鈥�,鈥� Dodson said.
My children are avid readers. But they don't see themselves. And that...that works on your psyche...your spirit! -Judy Allen Dodson
This August, more than a decade later, she plans to submit the completed manuscript of her kids chapter book, "Micah鈥檚 Magic," to publishers. It鈥檚 about a black boy named Micah who time travels with his friends to 1930s Chicago, where they meet the first all-black professional basketball team.
鈥淢y children are avid readers,鈥� said Dodson, who juggled work on the book with her job as a librarian in Raleigh, and raising her two kids, now 19 and 21. 鈥淏ut they don鈥檛 see themselves. And that...that works on your psyche...your spirit!鈥�
Just a quarter of approximately 3,700 children鈥檚 books published in the U.S. and Canada last year feature non-white characters, according to a report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But only half of American kids are white.
鈥淔or all children, whether that be children of color, whether that be children who may have a disability, they just want to feel normal, and see themselves,鈥� said Dodson.
This October, Dodson is co-hosting a symposium for children鈥檚 authors and illustrators of color at North Carolina Central University. The group will meet with educators and librarians and discuss why diversity matters 鈥� not just in characters, but among writers and illustrators, too. That鈥檚 because authenticity is equally as important as inclusion, said Raleigh children鈥檚 author Kelly Starling Lyons.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l see more books that have a brown face in a crowd or even, a brown child on the cover,鈥� said Lyons, a co-host of the symposium. 鈥淏ut then when you look and you see who wrote the book or [ask], 鈥業s there any cultural authenticity to the story?鈥�, then sometimes that鈥檚 lacking.鈥�
Lyons called it 鈥渃oloring in brown.鈥� She said it sends the wrong message that anyone can tell stories about people of color: that it doesn鈥檛 have to be writers and illustrators of color, who can tell their own stories with nuance and cultural understanding.
鈥淲here it鈥檚 just somebody who鈥檚 brown on the surface, but there鈥檚 no connection to where they come from or what they value or who they are,鈥� Lyons said.
Lack Of Representation In Books, And Among Those Who Publish Them
Minority authors penned just fifteen percent of children鈥檚 literature published last year, according to the UW-Madison report.
鈥淧eople of color are writing, but people of color are not getting published as much as they should be getting published,鈥� said Pauletta Brown Bracy, a scholar of children鈥檚 literature at NC Central University.
Bracy said minority authors hit stumbling blocks in the publishing industry, a business in which four out of five employees are white, according to a 2015 survey of more than 30 American publishing houses.
鈥淭hat poses a conflict sometimes for people of color who are working with white editors who don鈥檛 have the same level of appreciation for the culture,鈥� said Bracy, who has chaired the jury of the Coretta Scott King Award, the most prestigious honor for black children鈥檚 book creators.
Bracy said change needs to come from the industry side. Lyons said it has to come from the parent side, too.
鈥淛udy [Dodson] and I are moms first. If we want to have those books for our kids, we can鈥檛 just leave it to the publishers,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e also have to be advocates and activists. And it doesn鈥檛 have to be holding a picket sign, per se, it can be little things. Your dollar speaks really loudly.鈥�
Raleigh parent Kia Byrd has lived this sentiment. As her 7-year-old daughter browsed the children鈥檚 section at a southeast Raleigh public library branch, she talked about her book-buying habits.
鈥淲e鈥檝e really made a lot of efforts to make sure that she reads books at least at home that are representative of our ethnicity, of our culture, of the black experience,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause she鈥檚 going to get a lot of everything else outside of home. So we wanted her to know that there are people that look like her, that have had similar experiences to her, that are doing extraordinary things.鈥�
Her efforts are not lost on her daughter, Amia.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for us to have books that tell us, 'Hey, it鈥檚 okay to be who you are',鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can stand out, you can be who you are, you can do what you want to do.鈥�
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