{"id":13031,"date":"2014-05-01T14:53:36","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T18:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=13031"},"modified":"2014-05-01T14:53:36","modified_gmt":"2014-05-01T18:53:36","slug":"hooray-for-we-need-diverse-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=13031","title":{"rendered":"HOORAY for We Need Diverse Books!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Charlton<\/a>

e.E. Charlton-Trujillo embraces the cause with her novel, Fat Angie.<\/p><\/div>
\nI had to come out of my blog ‘vacation’ to post about a form of fantastic activism that fills my heart with joy. When creative people see a need and turn it into action, amazing things happen. The conversation about the lack of diversity in children’s books and in the publishing field itself has reached a groundswell, and this week, the We Need Diverse Books<\/a> campaign was born. I think it may just be the tipping point we have been hoping for.
\nIn the interest of spreading the word as widely as possible, I’m simply going to reproduce the entire useful text of the campaign’s appeal so that you all can pour your efforts into supporting it as you like. Authors and illustrators, editors and booksellers, teachers and librarians are all getting involved. Here at ShelfTalker, we will of course continue to blog about this topic, and will step up our efforts to introduce you to fabulous books featuring main characters of color and diversity of all kinds.
\nHere’s a link to my World Full of Color database<\/a>, highlighting more than 1,000 children’s and YA books featuring main characters of color where race is NOT the driving force of the story. Feel free to share this with anyone who might find it helpful: parents, educators, librarians, kids.
\nLet’s fill bookshelves across the country with a world full of color! Our children deserve it. They need it. We all need it.
\n*******
\nAll of the following text comes from the\u00a0WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS CAMPAIGN<\/a>\u00a0Tumblr:
\n*******
\nRecently, there\u2019s been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children\u2019s literature. The issue is being picked up by news outlets like these\u00a0two\u00a0<\/a>pieces in the\u00a0NYT<\/a>, CNN<\/a>,\u00a0EW<\/a>, and many more. But while we individually care about diversity, there is still a disconnect. BEA\u2019s BookCon recently announced\u00a0an all-white-male panel of \u201cluminaries of children\u2019s literature,\u201d\u00a0and when we pointed out the lack of diversity, nothing changed.
\nNow is the time to raise our voices into a roar that can\u2019t be ignored. Here\u2019s how:
\nOn May 1st\u00a0at 1pm (EST), there will be a public call for action that will spread over 3 days. We\u2019re starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go viral.
\nFor the visual part of the campaign:<\/p>\n