Lack of Diversity in Childrens Books

Things become clearer when you make a graphic. And when your topic is children's books, it makes even more sense:


(Click to see it larger.)

Being vastly outnumbered by animals: that brought the problem home for me more than anything else. And these are the books published in 2018: not a sampling of all books out there in libraries and bookstores. In theory, this should be an improved snapshot compared to some year in a past decade or the accumulated years of titles a parent or child would find on the shelves.

The place where I saw the graphic included links to articles about critiques of some classic books. I was familiar with the general outline of three of the critiques (Little House on the Prairie, Curious George, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), but less familiar with one (The Cat in the Hat).

I remember reading both Curious George and the original Babar book when Daughter Number Three-Point-One was very young and being shocked at how racist they were. My child self had not noticed that. As a parent, I put the books away partly unread and took them back to the library.

It wasn't enough.