Written by The lack of diversity in children’s literature is a problem that affects all children, especially children from low-income families, who rarely see themselves, their families or their communities in the stories they read.
The problem is real. In a study last year, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center reviewed thousands of kids’ books, and found that:
- only 3.3 percent were about African-Americans
- only 2.1 percent were about Asian-Pacific Americans
- only 1.5 percent were about Latinos
- a mere 0.6 percent were about American Indians.
The teachers, librarians, mentors and program leaders we work with tell us time and again that one of the biggest challenges they face in helping kids become strong readers is the lack of stories featuring heroes and experiences they can relate to.
Today, at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) meeting, hosted by President Bill Clinton, I announced First Book’s commitment to create a sustainable solution to this problem by dramatically expanding the market for diversity in children’s literature through The Stories for All Project.
First Book aggregates the voices — and purchasing power — of thousands of educators and program leaders who serve families at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Through The Stories for All Project, we’re showing the publishing industry that there is a strong, viable and vibrant market out there for books like these.
One more important thing: This isn’t just about kids from African-American or Hispanic families being able to read stories about characters who look like them. All kids should have access to stories featuring diverse characters, to see the world in all its true rich variety. We’re creating this market in order to make diverse content available to kids from low-income families, but once that content exists, it’s available for everyone.
First Book is truly eager to collaborate with everyone interested in really changing this landscape for all kids.
Add your name to First Book’s email list to recieve occasional updates about The Stories for All Project and other ways to get new books into the hands of kids in need.
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Adults Are Not Really Certain of Anything.
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We are not the first people to complain and worry about this issue. So we knew if we were actually going to make a difference we needed a market-driven solution. In short, we needed to put our money where our mouth is.
First Book celebrated two big milestones this year – our 20th anniversary and 
Martha’s Table has a special place in our hearts here at First Book. Not only is it a terrific program that does an enormous amount of good for children and families in our home town of Washington DC, it’s where First Book was born twenty years ago, when Kyle, then a corporate lawyer volunteering in her spare time, realized that the children she was working with had no books of their own at home. She founded First Book, along with two friends, to ensure that those children, and others, would have access to the books they needed.
Another benefit? The publishing industry is much more willing to create the kinds of books these programs need when we can show them 35,000 potential customers; books like bilingual versions of award-winning titles, and “high-interest, low-level” books (titles that are written at a lower reading level for kids who are behind, but still focused on topics that will interest them; an eighth-grader reading at a third-grade level won’t become a strong reader if we can only offer him books about third-grade topics).
Social entrepreneurship is a new way of doing business, a hybrid of traditional nonprofits and for-profit companies that uses market forces to create social change. (
Like any new idea, there’s a lot of work to be done. But Kyle is hopeful about the future, saying: “There we were all in a room at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions – financial institutions and representatives of the social sector — talking about the challenges, which is a great step toward a cure.”