@ We need more diverse books like The Snowy Day

[darnkatz]

I am always on the look out for books that feature children of color that are just regular books. I wish more existed. 

We Don’t Only Need More Diverse Books. We Need More Diverse Books Like The Snowy Day.

Nightlight is Slate’s pop-up blog about children’s books, running for the month of August. Read about it here.

When we had our first son, four different people gave us the same present: a copy of Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day. A new child often inspires duplicate gifts—we were given a dozen mostly useless baby blankets, just one more thing to spit up on—but this one was different. Our son is black, and those four friends wanted to make certain our library contained one of American literature’s most beautiful depictions of a little black boy.

The Snowy Day is a classic for a reason. Keats’ illustrations are so inviting you almost don’t notice how modern his eye is. The text is perfectly poetic, at once surreal and yet so real; a hard note to strike, as anyone who’s ever tried to write for small children (and their caregivers) will agree. And the simple fact that its protagonist is a black boy is revolutionary even decades on. It’s important not to sell Keats’ work short by discussing it only through the lens of race, but leaving aside the question of blackness would be either disingenuous or treacherous, like claiming Muhammad Ali “transcended race.” The blackness of The Snowy Day is indivisible from its excellence.

Wishing there were more children’s books like The Snowy Day is a bit like wishing there were more grownup books like Anna Karenina. There are only so many masterpieces out there. But when I look at the library we’ve built for our kids, I do wish for more books for children that followed Keats’ lead, books that use children who look like mine to capture the magic in the mundane, as the best books for children do. Because what I've learned—and what I hear often from other parents of children of color—is that all too often the books that do contain kids who look like mine are, alas, not that fun to read.

Well-meaning acquaintances regularly forward me lists of great children’s books with black children in them; close friends regularly buy me such books, when they come across them. It’s not that a literature for children of color doesn’t exist; it’s that so much of the extant literature is lacking in the essential quality that makes literature for children so extraordinary a form: imagination.

It’s not hard to find charmingly illustrated biographies of great Americans such as Rosa Parks and Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Gillespie and Barack Obama. It’s not hard to find black and brown faces in folk tales and fables from unfamiliar cultures. It’s not hard to find frank histories that use fiction to teach about fact, whether it’s the slave trade or the struggle for civil rights. It’s not hard to find storybooks with the noble aim of teaching our children that their skin, their hair, their noses are beautiful.

My family owns many of these books. They are important. It’s imperative for our black children, for all our children, to understand their connection to a rich and often difficult heritage. It’s imperative to inculcate self-esteem and say, in no uncertain terms, that black is, indeed, beautiful. But these are books that are more concerned with reality, a state in which children only sometimes dwell. Must every book featuring black faces force our children to confront the tortures of our past and the troubles of our present? These are important things that our black and brown children must learn—but they must also learn the pleasure of reading a story in the relaxed, quiet moments before bed, reading not to learn but to feel safe, feel loved, laugh, wonder. That’s a fundamental privilege of childhood and should not be reserved for only one set of children.

The Snowy Day is the ideal book to read at bedtime. It traces the arc of a day spent doing nothing much in particular, a day that concludes with a bath and a bed, a day in which the line between what is real and what is imagined is hard to discern. It’s a day like the reader has just had, regardless of the weather; it’s a book that reflects my sons back at themselves, but, as importantly, it’s a book that reflects the essential quality of childhood itself. It imparts no lesson other than the most important one books can impart: Books are enjoyable.

Peter is a gift to readers like my sons because what’s never in question is that he is the everyman—an everyboy—and that he is black. That this is so rare is maddening. We need books that proclaim the territory of childhood belongs to all children. Lisa, the human protagonist of Don Freeman’s 1968 classic Corduroy, is someone I think of as akin to Peter; her blackness is never in question even as it’s beside the point. She saves her money for the toy she wants and brings it home with her; end of story.

All children (and the adults who are reading to them) would benefit from more kids like Peter and Lisa: kids of color as the heroes of utterly quotidian stories. Such children are a paltry fraction of the body of literature for children. Within the genre, the everyman, the default hero, when it’s not a talking animal or a sentient toy, is almost always a white child.


Blackness, any sort of difference, is not a burden. Relegating blackness or other sorts of difference to serious books that explicitly engage with issues creates a context in which it can seem like one. Yes, of course, we all benefit from reading about Rosa Parks or the horrors of slavery, but to give young readers who are black, brown, or any sort of different only books about their difference is burdensome. It looks like inclusiveness, but is an insult.

We need diverse books to be sure, but those must be part of a literature that reflects our reality, books in which little black boys push one another on the swings, in which little black girls daydream about working in the zoo, in which kids of every color do what kids of every color do every day: tromp through the woods, obsess about trucks, love their parents, refuse to eat dinner. We need more books in which our kids are simply themselves, and in which that is enough.

[dancelnow]

I don't think we have snowy day, but we do have corduroy. We also have a series with Little Bill. I don't know the name of it or the author though. They are a bit more advanced and aren't nearly as well written but are just about kids being kids, with the main family who is black and a diverse group of friends.

[georgeglass]

Aug 4, 2016 14:34:14 GMT -5 dancelnow said:

I don't think we have snowy day, but we do have corduroy. We also have a series with Little Bill. I don't know the name of it or the author though. They are a bit more advanced and aren't nearly as well written but are just about kids being kids, with the main family who is black and a diverse group of friends.

Little Bill author is Bill Cosby... (runs away and hides)

[dancelnow]

Aug 4, 2016 14:41:06 GMT -5 georgeglass said:

Aug 4, 2016 14:34:14 GMT -5 dancelnow said:

I don't think we have snowy day, but we do have corduroy. We also have a series with Little Bill. I don't know the name of it or the author though. They are a bit more advanced and aren't nearly as well written but are just about kids being kids, with the main family who is black and a diverse group of friends.

Little Bill author is Bill Cosby... (runs away and hides)

Really?!? Ack!!

Never mind. At least they were hand me downs

[sonrisa]

non-caucasian children in stories which aren't about race/history/diversity is something I also seek out.  Especially books that aren't just an ensemble of diverse characters (lots of different kids, but no real individuals). Two other favorites in our house are:

Rain by Linda Ashman (https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Linda-Ashman/dp/054773395X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470340489&sr=1-1&keywords=rain) a happy little boy infects everyone with his cheerful demeanor.

Please, Baby, Please by spike lee
(https://www.amazon.com/Please-Baby-Spike-Lee/dp/0689832338/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FCPY1JG7SZXPWZ2MNC18)
Silly fun

[chedifuen]

We recently checked out Sonia's Chickens and the family is bi-racial. It's a cute story too.

[ufcasey]

One of my son's all-time favorite books is Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger. It's not "everyday typical" like the Snowy Day book is, it focuses on an ostracized father/son who saves their town by outsmarting and vanquishing a monster. Check to see if your local library has it (where we found it and then had to go buy it because he loved it so much). I'll see if my library has Snowy Day, but living in Florida they might not, our library doesn't have too many snow-centric books in general but we have a lot of beach ones haha

[mnp555]

Everywhere babies is not as beautiful as snowy day, but it does a great job of depicting all families-- POC, gay parents, etc.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0152053158/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470341286&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=everywhere+babies&dpPl=1&dpID=51UqMGF3LyL&ref=plSrch

[bugandbibs]

DD2 really likes the Katie Woo series of books. The characters are diverse and they are just regular stories about a girl.

[bronxgirl]

The Snowy Day has been one of my favorites since I was a child. I love Ezra Jack Keats.

[froggy76]

Aug 4, 2016 15:01:14 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

One of my son's all-time favorite books is Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger. It's not "everyday typical" like the Snowy Day book is, it focuses on an ostracized father/son who saves their town by outsmarting and vanquishing a monster. Check to see if your local library has it (where we found it and then had to go buy it because he loved it so much). I'll see if my library has Snowy Day, but living in Florida they might not, our library doesn't have too many snow-centric books in general but we have a lot of beach ones haha

I need to buy this. DD learned the song Abiyoyo at daycare and sings it ALL the time.

[ufcasey]

Aug 4, 2016 15:33:29 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

Aug 4, 2016 15:01:14 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

One of my son's all-time favorite books is Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger. It's not "everyday typical" like the Snowy Day book is, it focuses on an ostracized father/son who saves their town by outsmarting and vanquishing a monster. Check to see if your local library has it (where we found it and then had to go buy it because he loved it so much). I'll see if my library has Snowy Day, but living in Florida they might not, our library doesn't have too many snow-centric books in general but we have a lot of beach ones haha

I need to buy this. DD learned the song Abiyoyo at daycare and sings it ALL the time.

Mine too. MINE. TOO.

[froggy76]

A book we borrowed recently from the library and LOVED was called "Grace for President". It was about an African-American girl who realizes there has never been a female President and she decides to run in a mock election at school. It even explains the electoral college!!

[ufcasey]

Aug 4, 2016 15:40:33 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

Aug 4, 2016 15:01:14 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

One of my son's all-time favorite books is Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger. It's not "everyday typical" like the Snowy Day book is, it focuses on an ostracized father/son who saves their town by outsmarting and vanquishing a monster. Check to see if your local library has it (where we found it and then had to go buy it because he loved it so much). I'll see if my library has Snowy Day, but living in Florida they might not, our library doesn't have too many snow-centric books in general but we have a lot of beach ones haha

I had forgotten about this book. When DS1 was 3, they had this book in his school. We didn't know it at home, and one day he came home screaming ABIYOYO RUN FOR YOUR LIVES and we were like wut? lol.

A CEP-related book I came across randomly in the library is Grace for President. So, again, not like the Snowy Day and meant for a slightly older crowd, but I was glad to see a black main character. 

We have the Snowy Day and Corduroy but I agree it's hard to find books with black characters that are engaging to the younger kids. My ODS reads plenty of the books about people, as the article mentioned (MLK, Obama, etc.) but I feel like we don't have a lot for DS2.

That's hysterical! Haha! I could see how that would be confusing

[kaybee85]

Aug 4, 2016 14:58:13 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

non-caucasian children in stories which aren't about diversity is something I also seek out.  Especially books that aren't just an ensemble of diverse characters (lots of different kids, but no real individuals). Two other favorites in our house are:

Rain by Linda Ashman (https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Linda-Ashman/dp/054773395X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470340489&sr=1-1&keywords=rain) a happy little boy infects everyone with his cheerful demeanor.

Please, Baby, Please by spike lee
(https://www.amazon.com/Please-Baby-Spike-Lee/dp/0689832338/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FCPY1JG7SZXPWZ2MNC18)
Silly fun

My baby loves Please Baby, Please and Please Puppy, Please

[darnkatz]

DD2 loves I Am So Brave! and I Know A Lot! as well as Lola at the Library (really, the whole Lola series). She also loves Princess Truly and the Hungry Bunny Problem. Last Stop on Market Street is loved by both of my kids and so is Bee-bim Bop! and Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns. 

DD1 loves President of the Whole Fifth Grade. She also likes the Jaden Toussaint series, the Sugar Plum Ballerinas series, the Alvin Ho series, and the Ruby Lu series. I know I'm forgetting some books.

[pescalita]

We need more of these too; I was thinking about canceling ipsy and doing a book a month instead, focusing on diversity.

The only issue I have with Snow Day and Corduroy is they're both in apartment buildings. None of the white kids live in apartment buildings.

[sporklemotion]

A Snowy Day and Corduroy are favorites in our house. We have a couple of other Ezra Jack Keats books, but they're not as good, IMO.
If your kid likes books based on songs, Cedella Marley's Three Little Birds and One Love are good. They aren't really stories (they are adaptations of the Bob Marley songs), but they do have central figures of color and the illustrations are nice. DD1 went through a phase where she wanted every book to be sung to her, so these were great.
I also like Last Stop on Market Street.

[bears]

I have some other Ezra Jack Keats books.

Robert Munsch also has books featuring diverse characters. My kids love him.

[picksthemusic]

The Snowy Day has been a favorite of mine since I can remember. I LOVE that book. I read it as often as possible to my kids. The imagery and the imagination and everything... I love it so.

One of the books I remember loving from Reading Rainbow is Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (the one James Earl Jones narrated on the show). I was mesmerized (thanks, JEJ!), and I love it. It's not 'everyday life', but I will be getting this for the kids.

[nessness]

Lola Loves Stories is a great book for toddlers. The main character is black, and I also appreciate that it shows an involved dad (taking her to the library, reading her bedtime stories). So many toddler books only include the mom.

[mishy]

I'm excited for Ada Twist, Scientist (a new book coming out next month by the same author as Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Iggy Peck, Architect).

www.amazon.com/Ada-Twist-Scientist-Andrea-Beaty/dp/1419721372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470345466&sr=8-1&keywords=ada+twist+scientist

[sfy]

I asked my sister for recommendations for books with POC that are not race-centered or The Snowy Day and she gave me the following list. Except where race is otherwise denoted, the main characters are black.

Not Norman
Last Stop on Market Street (POC)
Thunder Boy Jr. (Native American)
What Do You Do with a Problem? (Asian)
What Do you Do with an Idea? (Asian)
Please Baby Please (by Spike Lee)
Jake Makes a World (about Jacob Lawrence)
Afro-Bets
Jamal's Busy Day
More More More Said the Baby
Peek a Boo Morning
Bottle Cap Boys: Dancing on Royal Street
Annie's Gifts
Thanks for the Feedback
But It's Not My Fault

Then I also asked her for the opposite, his militant books, just because I find them so entertaining. They are:
A for Activist (I will never not think "P is for Power, Power to the People" is anything other than the most awesome line in a children's book lol)
Counting on Community
Tar Beach

[sonrisa]

Aug 4, 2016 16:20:51 GMT -5 sfy said:

A for Activist (I will never not think "P is for Power, Power to the People" is anything other than the most awesome line in a children's book lol)
Counting on Community
Tar Beach

:-)
"Pea-pea-Peace march
Pro-pro-Protest
Pow-pow-power to the Pee-Pee-PEOPLE!"

my favorite page is "Z is for Zapatista of course" 

[sfy]

Aug 4, 2016 16:27:44 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Aug 4, 2016 16:20:51 GMT -5 sfy said:

A for Activist (I will never not think "P is for Power, Power to the People" is anything other than the most awesome line in a children's book lol)
Counting on Community
Tar Beach

:-)
"Pea-pea-Peace march
Pro-pro-Protest
Pow-pow-power to the Pee-Pee-PEOPLE!"

my favorite page is "Z is for Zapatista of course" 

Yessss.  That book is amazing!
Save

[sam19]

"The Little Piano Girl" is a good book about jazz legend Mary Lou Williams. My daughter got it from the library because she plays piano and I think we read it every day until we had to take it back.

[awkwardpenguin]

Aug 4, 2016 13:59:28 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

Blackness, any sort of difference, is not a burden. Relegating blackness or other sorts of difference to serious books that explicitly engage with issues creates a context in which it can seem like one. Yes, of course, we all benefit from reading about Rosa Parks or the horrors of slavery, but to give young readers who are black, brown, or any sort of different only books about their difference is burdensome. It looks like inclusiveness, but is an insult.

This really stands out to me.  And it's not even just relegating children of color (and other differences) to serious subjects.  We have many books about children of Asian descent, and they are about Chinese New Year or dim sum or bi bim bop.  It is great to acknowledge different cultural heritages, but if every book that features someone who looks like you features a culture you're not actually a part of, that certainly is going to feel alienating.  I run into the same thing looking for books that feature American Muslims.  For once can't a mom just be wearing a headscarf and taking her kids to the library, instead of celebrating Ramadan or Eid?

Thanks for that list sfy.

[pescalita]

Aug 4, 2016 15:51:56 GMT -5 @dontcallmeshirley1 said:

Aug 4, 2016 15:48:58 GMT -5 pescalita said:

We need more of these too; I was thinking about canceling ipsy and doing a book a month instead, focusing on diversity.

The only issue I have with Snow Day and Corduroy is they're both in apartment buildings. None of the white kids live in apartment buildings.

None of which white kids live in apartment buildings? 

In other books.

[underwaterrhymes]

Last Stop on Market Street is great.

We also have the Jaden Toussaint books, but I don't think K is quite ready for them. (He's three and the reading level is five to ten.)

Global Babies is a good one for babies and young toddlers and is one of our favorites.

And Everywhere Babies is very diverse and also features subtlety features gay mommies and daddies.

[funchicken]

Aug 4, 2016 15:34:49 GMT -5 froggy76 said:

A book we borrowed recently from the library and LOVED was called "Grace for President". It was about an African-American girl who realizes there has never been a female President and she decides to run in a mock election at school. It even explains the electoral college!!

I think this is a series, isn't it? DD1 has checked several of them out from the library.