Thursday, December 9, 2021

Tell Me Another Story: The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation's 30 minute Free Documentary on Diversity in Children's Literature.

Tell Me Another Story: Diversity in Children's Literature is an awesome look at diversity in our industry from a who's who of luminaries, including Christopher Myers, Andrea Davis Pinkney, Grace Lin, Chieri Uegaki, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, Meg Medina, Jessixa Bagley, Pat Cummings, Shirin Yim Bridges, and with footage of Ezra Jack Keats, Pura Belpré, and W.E. DuBois.

Screen shot shows Author/Illustrator Christopher Myers in the documentary "Tell Me Another Story: Diversity in Children's Literature."

There are lots of great moments and insights, like:

“Children's literature was always a tool of white supremacy until it was challenged. It was a way of othering people who you were going to exploit.” —Deborah Taylor, Librarian and Youth Literacy Advocate.

and 

"What you see, it leaves an imprint on you.... what you see and what you don't see. The books I had as a child, I didn't know why I wasn't in them.... I felt that erasure from early on. Books, they're this great opportunity to widen, widen the sense of possibility for children. How about seeing two mommies? How about seeing families that don't look like what you're used to seeing?  Just by showing the child themselves. You. You. You belong in this book. You deserve pages.” —Author and 2020 Ezra Jack Keats Writer Award Honoree Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie

Watch the free documentary here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

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