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A Special Charge: Children of Color For many years I taught in a school with wonderful racial diversity among students...and in foraging through the library for classroom materials, I lamented how few quality books existed with faces my African-American, Asian and Latino children would relate to. Their white classmates of course had less of a problem, since on every page were faces they found familiar.
How delighted I was when one day at a signing an African-American woman bought five copies of Ready for Red to give as gifts...she was so happy to find (as I was to provide) a quality book with an African-American child on the cover and inside! She mentioned that outside of African folktales or books about Kwanzaa ... as good as those books are...it was hard to find popular subjects that didn't ignore the African-American children who are also growing, learning, and getting excited about books! So, dear friends and fans, please know I consider it a special
privilege to write and create art where everyone can find a home, and to
bring delight to all children as best I know how. I hope you find
that's the case as well. Specifically, the books in which I have prominently incorporated children of color are highlighted below, in case you want to learn more about them!! Train Ride (great for schools!)
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When
I began to be published, I was determined to create books through which all
children could enter into the scene and story. I did my best to convince
publishers - if they weren't already committed to the multicultural approach -
that to feature children of color did not mean we were limiting the market, but
broadening it!