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I’ve previously shared a number of resources about the importance of diverse books for our students.

As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop has written:

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”

Here she is talking more about it:

I’m adding this list to:

Best Posts On Books: Why They’re Important & How To Help Students Select, Read, Write & Discuss Them

“Best” Lists Of The Week: Resources For Teaching & Learning About Race & Racism

Here are related resources (please suggest more – these are just the tip of the iceberg!):

Q & A with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas: Why children need more diverse books is from Penn GSE.

Checklist: 8 Steps to Creating a Diverse Book Collection is from The Open Book.

Why Diverse Classroom Libraries Matter appeared in Edutopia.

10 books besides ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ that tackle racial injustice is from PBS.

Teachers Push for Books With More Diversity, Fewer Stereotypes is from Ed Week.

Check out We Need Diverse Books™, “a 501(c)(3) non-profit and a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.”

How Inclusive Is Your Literacy Classroom Really is by Tricia Ebavaria.

Reading Diversity is from Teaching Tolerance.

Can Diverse Books Save Us? In a divided world, librarians are on a mission is from The School Library Journal.

#DISRUPTTEXTS LOOKS LIKE AN EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE WHERE ENGLISH TEACHERS CAN LEARN & CONTRIBUTE

Teachers Push for Books With More Diversity, Fewer Stereotypes is from Ed Week.

Harvard EdCast: Putting Diverse Books into Practice interviews Kim Parker.

Paving the Way for Latinx Teachers is from New America. I’m adding it to the same list.

Statistic Of The Day: More Children’s Books Have Characters Who Are People Of Color

Diversifying Your Classroom Book Collections? Avoid these 7 Pitfalls is from MindShift.

White Characters Still Dominate Kids’ Books and School Texts, Report Finds is from Ed Week.

Race, Equity, and Inclusion Center is from Reading Is Fundamental.

Diverse Bookfinder