This month We Need Diverse Books is celebrating our second round of Educators Making a Difference Grants! WNDB has directly impacted over 21,000 students with this program, which provides up to $2,000 to educators who are eager to share diverse books with their students, but who lack the funding to … [Read more...] about Celebrating the Spring 2023 Educators Making A Difference Grantees!
education
Replacing #OwnVoices: Promoting Diverse Library Books With Specificity
By Gianna Macchia The #OwnVoices hashtag was created by writer Corinne Duyvis in 2015 as a way to shorthand book recommendations by authors who openly shared the diverse identity of their main characters. She used the tag with her own novel On the Edge of Gone, which features an autistic … [Read more...] about Replacing #OwnVoices: Promoting Diverse Library Books With Specificity
How to Support Diverse Books During a Book Ban
By Adriana White Over the past year, American libraries have been under attack. Coordinated efforts to remove diverse books have spread nationwide, with libraries in at least 38 states reporting some kind of book ban or challenge. There are countless other challenges flying under the radar. The … [Read more...] about How to Support Diverse Books During a Book Ban
The Power of Daily Book Talks to Diversify Independent Reading
By Molly Tansey Teacher: *reads Akata Witch prologue* Student: Wait, what’s her magic power? Teacher: I can’t tell you. Student: No, why would you do that to me? Now I have to read. Teacher: *laughs maniacally* Every teacher knows that sometimes it is the simplest ideas that have the biggest … [Read more...] about The Power of Daily Book Talks to Diversify Independent Reading
How LGBTQIA+ Book Bans Impact Kids and Teens
By Karis Rogerson Books helped me figure out, in my mid-20s, that I’m queer. In fact, it was mainly young adult books aimed at teenagers that showed me parts of myself I’d been hiding from for more than two decades. So when I say that I think diverse books are important, and when I spotlight … [Read more...] about How LGBTQIA+ Book Bans Impact Kids and Teens
Resources for When LGBTQ+ Books Are Banned
By Karis Rogerson As we’ve seen a rise in book challenges and bans at libraries across America in recent months, it’s important to know not only what is happening, but also who is fighting and how we can help. This resource list is meant to give you background information as well as highlight a … [Read more...] about Resources for When LGBTQ+ Books Are Banned
How Educators Are Keeping the 1619 Project in the Classroom
By Andrea Ruggirello In her Pulitzer Prize-winning essay, The Idea of America, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones writes, “I had been taught, in school, through cultural osmosis, that the flag wasn’t really ours, that our history as a people began with enslavement and that we had contributed little … [Read more...] about How Educators Are Keeping the 1619 Project in the Classroom
#SharpieActivism: Annotating Books As a Movement for Change
By Remi Kalir, University of Colorado Denver and Antero Garcia, Stanford University Annotation can be more than just an effective reading comprehension strategy. As educators and librarians are learning, it can be a form of activism and advocating for change. A young adult visiting the North … [Read more...] about #SharpieActivism: Annotating Books As a Movement for Change
Cover Reveal for Revolution in Our Time by Kekla Magoon
Today we are thrilled to reveal the cover for Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon. The book was designed by Matt Roeser. The book will be released on September 28, 2021, by Candlewick Press. Take a look at the Revolution in Our Time website and … [Read more...] about Cover Reveal for Revolution in Our Time by Kekla Magoon