I LOVE BOOKS!!!! That’s really the long and the short of it. As a child growing up in the rural South, I would read everything I could get my hands on, even some things that weren’t appropriate for my age. Remember those True Confession-type magazines? HA! I just loved the written word. I was (am) an introvert and quiet; and loved becoming engrossed in the different worlds that I found in books. Worlds that were so different than my little small town.
There is something about a library or bookstore that awakens this wanderlust within me, this sense of excitement about the possibilities of the stories held within. And I get that wanderlust even though I’ve traveled and lived for several years in a different country and hemisphere!!
Whenever I’m in the library or bookstore, I inevitably find myself in the children’s books section. Now, don’t get it twisted, I do usually read books for grown-ups. But there is something about the brightly colored books for children that just draw me in every single time. It makes me nostalgic about my own childhood spent in the country finding a good spot to lose myself in a good book.
Back then, however, there weren’t many (or any) books in my town’s or school’s library that featured children of color. My very first favorite series was The Berenstain Bears. After that came the Nancy Drew books (I also dabbled in some Hardy Boys). During my middle and high school years, other than the aforementioned inappropriate True Confession-type magazines I found around my house, I started reading Mary Higgins Clark and Robin Cook novels. All these books center white folks.
During the summer of 2008, my nieces, ages 3 and 6, came to stay with me for a couple weeks. Naturally, I started looking for children’s books thinking surely it wouldn’t be too hard to find books that feature children that look like them. I was wrong!! Things were better than when I was a child, but it was still harder than it should’ve been (Amazon back then wasn’t like it is now).
As a result of that experience, I’ve always made note of children’s books that feature children of color. People who know me know that I love books and occasionally ask for recommendations. I figured other parents might find this information useful as well and this blog was born!