Family Portraits: Picture Books That Feature All Kinds of Families

Family Portraits: Picture Books That Feature All Kinds of Families

Linda Gann, University of North Carolina

Karen Perry, Old Dominion University

This session was a booktalk presented by children’s literature instructors on recently published diverse picture books. While the talk itself was straightforward (and a little dry) in providing a large number of suggestions to help feature diversity in children’s collections, the ideas our group came up with turned out to be much more complex.

On a side note—this was my first time attending a virtual conference with a group of coworkers and it was a fantastic experience! We were able to use the session information as a springboard for our own ideas and the applicability of the session concepts to our own library. More on that later.

Some of the great takeaways from the session were:

• Children need to see themselves in children’s books
  • Children/families who looks like them in appearance, living circumstances, family structure, etc.
  • When we provide children with diverse children’s books it creates an opportunity for

• “Mirrors”- of themselves & families
• “Windows”- allows them to see families they might encounter
• “Doorways”-to allow children/families to step into another’s shoes and display more empathy for situations that are different from their own

• Family has a fluid definition and is unique to each individual family—when we serve the public, it is important to remember not to make assumptions about a family’s structure, but instead to approach in a neutral way to ensure our patrons feel welcome.
• Children who develop a strong family narrative (knowing family stories, family history-good& bad, etc.) demonstrate greater self-understanding and self-esteem.
• Inclusion of diverse materials should be intentional and widespread, allowing children approach diversity in a positive way.
• There are so many fantastic books that feature diverse families!
• Some of the suggestions (there are many more also!)-
  • Celebrating Daddies Doin' Work by Doyin Richards (diverse fathers)
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  • Families by Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly (demos all kinds of families)
  • Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang & Max Lang (demonstrates variety of familes using animals)
  • One Family by George Shannon
  

  
  
  

  • My Family Tree and Me by Dusan Petricic (understanding family history)
  • Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
  • Stella Brings the Family by Merriam Schiffer (daughter with 2 days deciding who to bring to Mother’s Day at school)

  

  
  
  

  • The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by Selina Alko
  • Yard Sale by Eva Bunting (moving)
  • The Storm by Akiko Miyakoshi (natural disasters)
  • Coming Home by Greg Ruth (separation from family members/gender anti-bias)
  • Monday, Wednesdays, & Every Other Weekend by Karen Stanton (divorce/shared custody, pets as part of fam & influenced by change)
  • Two Nests by Laurence Anholt (divorce in bird world)
  • Real Sisters Pretend by Megan Dowd Lambert (adoption & diversity)
  • My New Mom & Me by Renata Galindo (adoption diversity- not looking like family)

  

  
  
  

  • The Best Days are Dog Days by Aaron Meshon
  • Henry Wants More! by Linda Ashman (high energy toddler)
  • Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley (bedtime needs)
  • The Airport Book by Lisa Brown (gearing children up for new experiences, preparation, diverse families)

  

  
  
  

  • One Word from Sophie by Jim Averbeck & Yasmeen Ismail (diverse family, parent humor)
  • The New Small Person by Lauren Child (adoption, changes for only child getting a new sibling)

A great website to check out: http://mirrorswindowsdoors.org/wp/

So back to those great discussions this session prompted among our team-

Some of the books mentioned bring up issues of inclusion for LGBTQ+ families. It would be wonderful to have these materials available to the public and well incorporated into our programs and collections. But how would our community respond?

As librarians, we would like to provide access to information to all.

But how would our community respond to the presence of the materials in a storytime or readily available to their children in our picture book collections?

We could place them in the parenting collection…however, is it okay for us to limit access to these items? Children rarely visit this area, especially independent readers. However, it could be that these are the children who have questions about these circumstances and want to find out more. Further, these children may come from homes that do not support these ideals and may not have the opportunity to access such information. Is it right to limit the access of our younger patrons? 


Carmen's turn,
Adding to the discussion...
 This was a fantastic session, because as Rina mentioned, it served to prompt much discussion in regards to the Children's Dept and its collection! 

For example, we discussed the Parenting section and, more specifically, the picture books that live in it. 
--Why do we have a parenting section?--What criteria is used when deciding whether a title belongs with the picture books or in the parenting section?
--Are titles that portray LGBTQ families, for example, available only in the parenting section and not in the easy books? If so, why?  For example, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson. 
--Is our criteria consistent among staff? 

As librarians, ensuring access to information and avoiding censorship are fundamental to collection development.  Just as fundamental, though, is knowing the community we serve and its needs.
-Is having a title available in the library and in the catalog enough to ensure that it is accessible to all?  
-Are some areas of the collection more accessible and visible than others?  
-What determines where a collection is located?  
-By placing titles in the parenting section rather than in the easy book section, are we making them...easier to locate for parents?, harder to locate for children?, implying that they don't belong in the "normal" picture book area? or simply making them easier to find for all?

Our community leans towards more conservative views and these often drive our decisions when it comes to materials selected in storytimes or for our collection.  In doing so, though, is it a disservice to those who are of less conservative viewpoints?  Is there a middle ground?  

I especially, enjoy the viewpoint shared in this blog:
http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-parenting-collection.html
Jennifer the Librarian (of course her name is Jennifer!) puts it simply when describing some of the criteria she uses for titles in the Parenting section, "These books are intended to teach; if you have a book that teaches you about asthma, it will be in the parenting section. If you have a book that happens to have a character with asthma who plays soccer, it will be in the sports (section)."

Surely, we'll enjoy more discussion on the topic.  

Please share your views with the Children's team!