Building Cultural Competency in KidLit
I usually live tweet diversity workshops/events I attend. I didn’t for the Building Cultural Competency in Children’s Publishing Symposium at @Highlights Foundation. I wanted to be fully present. Even handwriting notes seemed a bit intrusive. Yes, it was that deep. My biggest takeaway was that we all need to come to the page with questions - whether you’re a writer, reader, illustrator, editor, librarian or teacher. -Who’s centered in the story? -Who’s silenced or misrepresented? -Is the story upholding stereotypes? -What are YOUR identities and how do they shape what you’re writing, reading or suggesting that others read? Then, take action. That might mean #booktoss for biased books or deciding you are not the best author to write a particular story. And it should always mean supporting more #ownvoices books and getting more of them onto shelves & into kids’ hands, Examining our books & ourselves is hard & necessary ONGOING work. Th...