Diversity in children's literature event findings & resources

Following the success of our expert discussion, featuring academic Dr Helen Adam, and author Melissa Keil, discussing the importance of representation and diversity in children’s literature, Story Box Library is sharing the recording of this informative event, plus resources shared from participants.

Our informative and engaging panel event reached hundreds of people from across Australia and New Zealand, and even audiences from China, Korea, Singapore, USA and the UK! Thank you to all who attended the event, and to all interested registrants. 

Watch the event recording and download presentation slides.

Recommended titles available on Story Box Library

• The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke

• Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour

• My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald

• Our Little Inventor by Sher Rill Ng

• Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell

• Starting School by Jane Godwin & Anna Walker

• Littlelight by Kelly Canby

• Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor

Dr Helen Adam's & audience-recommended children’s book titles

• Two Mates by Magabala

• Race Cars: A children's book about white privilege by Jenny Devenny, edited by Charnaie Gordon 

• Read Riordan, a series of mythological stories from culturally diverse authors

• Ozzie Goes to School, written by Jocelyn Crabb and illustrated by Danny Snell 

• The Perfect Flower Girl, created by Taghred Chandab and Binny Talib

• The Curiosities, written by Zana Fraillon and illustrated by Phil Lesnie 

• The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family, created by Ibtihaj Muhammad, Hatem Aly and S K Ali

• Saturday Is Swimming Day, created by Hyewon Yum

• The Sandwich Swap, written by Kelly DiPucchio and Her Majesty Queen Ra Abdullah, and illustrated by Tricia Tusa

• Alma and How She Got Her Name, created by Juana Martinez-Neal

• The Dress and the Girl, written by Camille Andros and illustrated by Julie Morstad

• Islandborn, written by Junot Díaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa

• The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi

• Red Is a Dragon: A Book of Colors, created by Roseanne Thong and Grace Lin

• What Do You Call Your Grandpa?What Do You Call Your Grandma? & What Do You Do to Celebrate? Written by Ashleigh Barton and illustrated by Martina Heiduczek

• Hello! by Tony Flowers

• Ms. Marvel: Kamala Khan  by G. Willow Wilson (graphic novel)

• I'm a Global Citizen: Culture and Diversity, created by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw, David Broadbent

Additional resources

• Audit Report On The Cultural Diversity Of Story Box Library, Jackie Small, 2020
• Atinuke, a Nigerian-born author who started her career as an oral storyteller of tales from the African continent. She draws on her recent Yoruba ancestry and her life in West Wales to write stories of contemporary life in Nigeria and in Wales. 
• Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource - NCACL, a free database which provides insights into over 300 books written by and/or about Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples and published between 1974 and 2020 for young people from birth through twelve years of age.
• Collection Analysis Tool (CAT), a tool designed to help you diversify your picture book collection
• Diversity Audit: A Practical Guide
• INCITE in conversation - November 2020, from ALIA’s first 'INCITE in conversation', a discussion with Maeva Masterson and Aimee Hay from Library and Archives NT, about a Territory-wide project, auditing the diversity of public library collections in the Northern Territory
• International Language Bookshop
• Library For All
• State Library NSW guide to diverse picture book collections
• The danger of telling a single story, TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The School That Tried To End Racism, ABC iView
• The Start of It All - A Conversation with Quintin, Human Chapters podcast
• The Tiny Activist Instagram
• Victorian State Government’s Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC)
• Wish We Knew What to Say: Talking with Children About Race by Dr Pragya Agarwal

Dr Helen Adam’s works

• Adam, H., Hays, A., & Urquhart, Y. (2021). The Exclusive White World of Preservice Teachers’ Book Selection for the Classroom: Influences and Implications for Practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46(8). https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol46/iss8/4

• Adam, H. (2021). When Authenticity Goes Missing: How Monocultural Children’s Literature Is Silencing the Voices and Contributing to Invisibility of Children from Minority Backgrounds. Education Sciences, 11(1), 32. doi:10.3390/educsci11010032 https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/1/32/htm

• Adam, H., & Barratt-Pugh, C. (2020). Book sharing with young children: A study of book sharing in four Australian long day care centres. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798420981745

• Adam, H., & Barratt-Pugh, (2020) The challenge of monoculturalism: what books are educators sharing with children and what messages do they send? . Australian Educational Researcher. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-019-00375-7

• Adam, H., Barratt-Pugh, C. & Haig, Y. (2019). “Portray cultures other than ours”: How children’s literature is being used to support the diversity goals of the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. Australian Educational Researcher. https://rdcu.be/bhMgn