CCBC-Net Archives

Re: Multicultural Statistics for 2013

From: Claudia Pearson <pearsoncrz_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:43:22 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
Good question Nancy. 

One of the problems I see is reflected in the fact that CSK books are not typically shelved with e.g. Caldecott and Newberry winners, but kept on a seperate shelf where "those kids" can go to find characters like themselves in the library. This is true even though the stories contained in the books on the CSK shelf touch on univeral issues. IMHO, two such books, THE WAY A DOOR CLOSES, and KEEPING THE NIGHT WATCH, should be on every bookshelf and suggested by librarians and booksellers to every parent, preteen and teen who is going through a family seperation. 

Or look at PITCHING IN EUBIE, where a younger sibling wants to help her older sibling make it to college - a story which so many people can relate to, and which has nothing to do with the color of the characters' skin, or any other measure of diversity, but which so many young white readers do not ever see because the book is not perceived as relevant for them.

IMO, as long as "multicultural" books are perceived as having been written for a special "multicultural" audience, instead of being perceived as able to speak to ALL children, publishers are going to continue to ignore the vast market these books could have among white readers. As long as publishers, librarians, booksellers, etc expect "multicultural" readers to be able to identify with white protagonists, but not visa versa, the marketing and acquisition committees at the big publishers will continue to point to what are perceived to be limited markets for these books as justification for not publishing more.

Claudia 

-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Tolson
Sent: Feb 3, 2014 3:22 PM
To: ccbc-net
Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] Multicultural Statistics for 2013

Re: [ccbc-net] Multicultural Statistics for 2013 Are the books published by Just Us Books included in the statistics? Or is Just Us Books still seen after all these years as an indie publishing company? AND if one of these indie books just happens to make it out of the trenches and receives recognition and awards is it still ignored because of how it was published? I recall years ago, Nathaniel Talking won the CSK award and it was published by Black Butterfly Children’s Books. Now where do you put that book?


Nancy D. Tolson

 



Claudia Pearson
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Received on Mon 03 Feb 2014 03:43:45 PM CST