For my final professional development activity, I chose to analyse the following article:
Davis, J., Pearce, N., & Mullin, M. (2021). Missing boys: The limited representation of Black males in Caldecott books. Journal of Children’s Literature, 47(1), 10-20.
I have provided my full analysis as an appendix. To summarise, the authors found that Black male protagonists were likely underrepresented in Caldecott books and tended to hold a narrow range of jobs. In addition, Caldecott books with Black male protagonists tended to focus on historical experiences such as slavery and the Civil Rights Movement at the expense of modern, more relatable experiences of Black males. Although the study described above looked at one US-based award, the results are likely to be relevant in Australia; Caple and Tang (2020) found that only 12% of main characters in picture books shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year over the past two decades were not white.
Young people’s book awards play an important role in promoting quality children’s literature. Winning books become widely read, readily available in both shops and libraries, and stay in print for a long time (Caple & Tang, 2000; Pearson et al, 2019). Awards also help shape children’s library collections. As I learned while completing my professional placement, selection and acquisition at public libraries is based on profiles; libraries have longstanding orders with suppliers based upon the demographics of the library’s local community, and these often include automatic selection of prize-winning books (E. Ward, personal communication, February 24). It is important that all children can both see themselves and see others in books that they read (Davis et al, 2021). There are a number of children’s book awards that focus on diversity and equality, such as the Rainbow Booklist and the Diverse Book Awards. However, limited portrayal of minority groups in prize-winning picture books is problematic because there is a lack of scrutiny of these books by collection managers.
I have learnt that greater scrutiny of children’s book awards, including by information professionals working with children and young adults, is needed to ensure that library collections contain culturally relevant books. Information professionals who are aiming to build diverse children’s book collections cannot rely on simple measures of representation such as the presence or absence of diverse characters; they must also critically analyse the portrayal of minority groups. In future I plan to apply the approach modelled by Davis et al when assessing prize-winning children’s books. However, I recognise that there are gaps in my awareness of representation and cultural diversity. We Need Diverse Books (n.d.) provides book lists and free educational resources for librarians, parents, and teachers on their website, and I will explore these further in order to develop my understanding.
Featured image “R. Caldecott in The Hey Diddle Diddle Picture Book” by Crossett Library Bennington College is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
References
Davis, J., Pearce, N., & Mullin, M. (2021). Missing boys: The limited representation of Black males in Caldecott books. Journal of Children’s Literature, 47(1), 10-20. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/missing-boys-limited-representation-black-males/docview/2575544523/se-2?accountid=10344
Pearson, L., Sands-O’Connor, K, & Subramanian, A. (2019). Prize culture and diversity in British children’s literature. International Research in Children’s Literature, 12(1), 90-106. https://doi.org/10.3366/ircl.2019.0293
We Need Diverse Books. (n.d.). About us. https://diversebooks.org/about-wndb/
Caple, H. & Tang, P. (2020, October 15). In 20 years of award-winning picture books, non-white people made up just 12% of main characters. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-20-years-of-award-winning-picture-books-non-white-people-made-up-just-12-of-main-characters-147026
Appendix
The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to the artist of the most distinguished children’s picture book. To be eligible, illustrators must be either a US citizen or resident (ALSC, n.d.). Davis et al (2021) investigated the representation of Black males in picture books that had been awarded a Caldecott Medal or Honor between 1995 and 2020. They found that only 15.7% of Caldecott books had a Black male protagonist. The authors argue that this indicates underrepresentation of Black males. However, they do not provide any data regarding Black males as a percentage of the US population; in fact, this figure is difficult to estimate because some members of this group may be classified in census data as multiracial (United States Census Bureau, 2021). It is also possible that this finding is due to underrepresentation of male protagonists in Caldecott books. The study could therefore have been improved by looking at Black males as a percentage of all male characters in picture books.
A strength of the study is how it explored the portrayal of Black male protagonists. Davis et al found that Caldecott books with Black male protagonists tended to be set in the past, with many focusing on slavery and civil rights; as the authors point out, these books are not always easy for young Black males to relate to their own lived experiences in the present day. In addition, adult Black male characters tended to have a narrow range of jobs. As Caple and Tang (2020) note, the diversity that children see represented helps to shape their view of the world and what their ideas about what they can achieve. Although this analysis was based on a small number of books – only 18 – it shows that it is important to consider the nature of representation when building a diverse picture book collection.
References
Association for Library Service to Children. (n.d.). Randolph Caldecott Medal. https://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecott
Caple, H. & Tang, P. (2020, October 15). In 20 years of award-winning picture books, non-white people made up just 12% of main characters. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/in-20-years-of-award-winning-picture-books-non-white-people-made-up-just-12-of-main-characters-147026
Davis, J., Pearce, N., & Mullin, M. (2021). Missing boys: The limited representation of Black males in Caldecott books. Journal of Children’s Literature, 47(1), 10-20. https://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/missing-boys-limited-representation-black-males/docview/2575544523/se-2?accountid=10344
United States Census Bureau. (2021). QuickFacts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045221