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Najia Khan is a graduate student at Clarion University of Pennsylvania working towards her Masters in Library and Information Science, and a current intern at the Diverse BookFinder. (See more of her bio on Our Team on our website.) Writer for children, Own Voices author and Spoken Word coach, Rina Singh has an MFA in creative ...continue reading "“Get Involved!”: An Author Interview with Rina Singh"

Intro to the Series We are so excited to bring attention to this blog series written by students in Dr. Margaret Boyle's "Teaching Languages and Culture" course at Bowdoin College. The series highlights the Diverse BookFinder (DBF), not only as a great tool for educators, librarians, and parents, but as an invaluable space where new ...continue reading "The Representation of Language & Cultural Identity in U.S. Picture Books, A Series (1)"

By Ikaika Keliʻiliki and Halie Kerns  Ikaika is a student in the MLIS program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a library technician at the Hawaiʻi State Library. As a person of predominantly Native Hawaiian descent, he is particularly interested in the representation of Native Hawaiian culture and people in various media, particularly ...continue reading "Native Hawaiian Children’s Picture Books"

Illustration by Baljinder Kaur from Fauja Singh Keeps Going by Simran Jeet Singh Heather Haynes Smith, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. She teaches courses on special education, learning disabilities, and reading. She supports equity and reading initiatives through service, research, and providing professional development through community, professional, and ...continue reading "The Complexity of Characters: Representing Disability"

Last year we created an extensive Holiday Gift Guide based on six of our nine categories. This year some of our team members responded to a simple question -- What are two new books that you'd want to give to a child in your life? -- with these titles (most are 2020, a few are ...continue reading "Gift Guide 2020: New BIPOC Picture Books"

Illustration by Ashley Bryan from Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan Luis is the Manager of the Courtland S. Wilson branch of the New Haven Public Library in Connecticut and a member of our Advisory Council. In this historic moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide protests ...continue reading "Humanizing History: How Picture Books Help Us Teach Hard Truths"

Illustration by Lauren Tobia from Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin Since we began collecting and coding titles for the Diverse BookFinder in 2015, we've been keeping track of the appearances of bi/multiracial families -- that is, parents and/or children of different races and/or mixed-race people, including families built through transracial adoption. (We include ...continue reading "Multiracial Families in Recent Picture Books"

Karen Wang is our summer 2020 Diverse BookFinder intern. She is a graduate student at Pratt Institute, pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science to become a children’s librarian. Before transitioning to librarianship, Karen worked in the K-12 educational technology field, developing and implementing programs for students, families, and educators across the country. Karen ...continue reading "Women’s Equality Day 2020: Commemorating a Century of Women’s Suffrage for Some, Not All"

This guest post is co-authored by our summer MLIS graduate student interns, Karen Wang and Sanura Williams. The topic was inspired by Bates student Alex Gilbertson '22, from one of her final projects for our Co-founder and Director Dr. Krista Aronson's Psychology course called "The Power of Picture Books." Here at the Diverse BookFinder, our ...continue reading "Picture Book Portrayals of Economic Struggle in the U.S.: What do the numbers say?"

Sanura Williams is our summer 2020 Diverse BookFinder intern. She is a Library and Information Science graduate student at San Jose State University. Sanura aspires to work as a public librarian with a focus on youth services. She has a passion for celebrating diversity in literature, and in 2016 founded My Lit Box, an online community ...continue reading "Dignity In All Work: Career Day with Essential Workers"
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