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Early Childhood Anti-Bias Education Booklists

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Recommended books for young children, teachers, and parents for each chapter of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves as well as additional resources on anti-bias themes and topics.

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One afternoon last fall, I found myself reading my picture book The Sea Serpent and Me to a group of schoolchildren in the island nation of Grenada. The story is about a little girl who befriends a tiny serpent that falls out of her bathroom faucet. I had thought it would appeal to children who lived by the sea, but as I looked at their uncomprehending faces, I realized how wrong I was. It wasn't just my American accent and unfamiliar vocabulary, but the story's central dilemma: The girl wants to keep the serpent at home with her, but as each day passes, he grows larger and larger.

"What do you think she should do?" I asked, holding up an illustration of the serpent's coils spilling out of the bathtub.

"Kill him and cook him," one kid suggested.

It took me a few seconds to understand that he wasn't joking. If an enormous sea creature presented itself to you, of course you'd eat it! Talk about first-world problems.

Roughly 80 percent of the children's book world-authors and illustrators, editors, execs, marketers, and reviewers-is white.

I think of that kid from time to time when I need to remind myself that my worldview is pretty limited. Within five years, more than half of America's children and teenagers will have at least one nonwhite parent. But when the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at 3,200 children's books published in the United States last year, it found that only 14 percent had black, Latino, Asian, or Native American main characters. Meanwhile, industry data collected by publisher Lee & Low and others suggest that roughly 80 percent of the children's book world-authors and illustrators, editors, execs, marketers, and reviewers-is white, like me.

Writers and scholars have bemoaned the whiteness of children's books for decades, but the topic took on new life in 2014, when the influential black author Walter Dean Myers and his son, the author and illustrator Christopher Myers, wrote companion pieces in the New York Times ' Sunday Review asking, "Where are the people of color in children's books?" A month later, unwittingly twisting the knife, the industry convention BookCon featured an all-white, all-male panel of "superstar" children's book authors. Novelist Ellen Oh and like-minded literary types responded with a Twitter campaign-#WeNeedDiverseBooks-that spawned more than 100,000 tweets.

Most hashtag campaigns go nowhere, but Oh managed to harness the momentum. We Need Diverse Books is now a nonprofit that offers awards, grants, and mentorships for authors, internships aimed at making the industry more inclusive, and tools for promoting diverse books. Among the first batch of grant recipients was A.C. Thomas, a former teen rapper who sold her young-adult Black Lives Matter narrative in a 13-house auction. (A feature film is already in the works.)

The market for diverse books "can't just be people of color," says Crown Books VP Phoebe Yeh. "It has to be everyone."

Problem solved? Not so fast. For years, well-meaning people up and down the publishing food chain agreed that diverse books are nice and all, but-and here voices were lowered to just-between-us volume- they don't sell. People of color, it was said, simply don't purchase enough children's books. But after studying the market last year, the consumer research firm Nielsen urged publishers to embrace "multicultural characters and content." Nielsen found that even though 77 percent of children's book buyers were white, ethnic minorities purchased more than their populations would predict-Hispanics, for example, were 27 percent more likely than the average American bookworm to take home a kids' book. Yet the market for diverse books "can't just be people of color," says Phoebe Yeh, the Chinese American VP and publisher at Crown Books for Young Readers. "It has to be everyone."

In an essay this spring, the book-review journal revealed that its reviewers had started mentioning the race of main characters in young-adult and children's books. The goal, its editor wrote, was to help librarians, bookstores, and parents find stories with diverse characters-and to challenge the notion of white as the default. Many applauded the move, but others were incensed, among them author Christine Taylor-Butler. For The Lost Tribes, her book about a kid who discovers his parents are aliens, she and her editor consciously chose not to reveal upfront that her main character (like her) is black. Highlighting the race of a nonwhite protagonist, she believes, will lead many buyers to conclude that the book isn't for them-or the children they cater to.

Last year, after Kwame Alexander's The Crossover won the Newbery Medal and Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming was selected as one of the two runners-up, a white school librarian named Amy Koester blogged about the sotto voce grumbling she heard from other librarians who felt these books, with their black protagonists, would be a "hard sell" in their white districts. "If we argue that only black youth will want to read about black youth," Koester countered, "we are really saying that the experiences of black youth have no relevance or meaning to youth of any other race."

The biggest threat to literary diversity, says author Christine Taylor-Butler, is the "feeling that it is okay to destroy people on social media."

Color-coding our bookshelves doesn't just shortchange the black kids. It is well established that reading literary fiction enhances our empathy and our ability to gauge the emotions of others, so what happens to white kids who are raised solely on stories about white kids? Economists note that the ability to grasp the perspectives of people who don't look like us is increasingly crucial in a nation riven by race and growing more heterogeneous by the day. In a recent TEDx Talk, Chinese American author Grace Lin recalled hearing from a school librarian whose students stopped teasing an Asian classmate after they read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Lin's adventure story starring a Chinese girl named Minli. The book, Lin said, had made being Asian "kind of cool."

Ellen Oh, the Korean American founder of We Need Diverse Books, points out that librarians don't fret over whether kids will relate to a title like The One and Only Ivan, told from a gorilla's perspective, yet faced with a book about a Chinese kid, the literary gatekeepers-from agents all the way down to parents-may balk. "Some of our most popular books deal with worlds that aren't Earth and people who aren't human," Oh says. "But the people you walk beside on this Earth have stories too." To complicate matters, a shrinking publishing world has consolidated its marketing budgets. "Readers are led by publishers into fewer and fewer books," observes Kevin Lewis, a black picture-book author who spent 23 years as an editor at major publishing houses. The result, he says, is that publishers often use a single narrative to represent an entire group's experience.

This puts intense pressure on authors to get it exactly right, even though nobody can quite agree what that means. Over the past year, the creators of two picture books were harshly criticized for their failure to convey the grim brutality of slavery. A Fine Dessert, written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, both white, showed the same dessert (blackberry fool) being made at different times in history. The book received standout reviews, but after it was eviscerated on social media for its portrayal of a slave woman and her daughter serving the dessert on a South Carolina plantation, a contrite Jenkins donated her writing fee to We Need Diverse Books. (Blackall stood by her work.)

A Birthday Cake for George Washington-written by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, both women of color-told the story of Hercules, the late president's enslaved household cook, but glossed over the horrors of captivity and consigned to an author's note the fact that Hercules eventually ran away (on Washington's birthday, no less). In the face of internet outrage (# SlaveryWithASmile), Scholastic made the controversial choice to recall the picture book, because "without more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves."

(Since this article went to press, two more books-by award-winning children's authors-have been subject to allegations of racial insensitivity. Lane Smith's There Was a Tribe of Kids was viewed by some observers as demeaning to Native Americans. The other title, When We Was Fierce, by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, initially drew high praise, only to have its publication date pushed back indefinitely in response to online outcry.)

Some diversity advocates fear that the vitriol of the internet attacks will give pause to skittish writers and publishers. "For me, the biggest issue is the chill on diversity that is happening because of the feeling that it is okay to destroy people on social media," Taylor-Butler told me. "We have lost the perspective that these are books and they are going to be imperfect."

The questions roiling the children's publishing world are among the pressing cultural questions of our time: Whose story gets told, and who gets to tell it? How do you acknowledge oppression without being defined by it? And to what extent should writers bow to popular opinion? There are no simple answers. But what seems clear to me, as a writer struggling to find the best way to tell stories to kids, is that my inevitable mistakes are well worth making. Children, it turns out, are the best critics of all. They read carefully and passionately, and when they sense you have missed an essential aspect of the story, they will be more than happy to point it out to you.

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The uncomfortable truth about children's books

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One afternoon last fall, I found myself reading my picture book The Sea Serpent and Me to a group of schoolchildren in the island nation of Grenada. The story is about a little girl who befriends a tiny serpent that falls out of her bathroom faucet.

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Our searchable library of short texts offers a diverse mix of stories and perspectives. This multigenre, multimedia collection aligns with the Common Core's recommendations for text complexity and the Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards. Choose from informational and literary nonfiction texts, literature, photographs, political cartoons, interviews, infographics and more.

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Based on "Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism." Updated in 2013.*
Children's books continue to be an invaluable source of information and values. They reflect the attitudes in our society about diversity, power relationships among different groups of people, and various social identities (e.g., racial, ethnic, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, and disability). The visual and verbal messages young children absorb from books (and other media) heavily influence their ideas about themselves and others. Depending on the quality of the book, they can reinforce (or undermine) children's affirmative self-concept, teach accurate (or misleading) information about people of various identities, and foster positive (or negative) attitudes about diversity. Children's books teach children about who is important, who matters, who is even visible. Consequently, carefully choosing quality children's books is an indispensable educational and child-rearing task.

It is important to offer young children a range of books about people like them and their family - as well as about people who are different from them and their family. All of the books should be accurate and appealing to young children. Fortunately, there are some good anti-bias children's books, which are available as a result of the ongoing activism of many individuals and groups over many years. However, while choices have improved over past decades, the lack of quality multicultural kid's books currently being published has frustrated many communities. The number of children of color in the United States continues to rise, but the number of books published by or about people of color stays the same or even decreases.

Check the Illustrations

Look for Stereotypes: A stereotype is an oversimplified generalization about a particular identity group (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, ability/disability), which usually carries derogatory, inaccurate messages and applies them to ALL people in the group. Stereotypes dehumanize people. So, too, does misinformation. ( See Box 1 below for a list of common, harmful stereotypes).

Unfortunately, all of us absorb socially prevailing stereotypes about a range of people, even if we do not consciously subscribe to them. To alert you to stereotypes in children's books, as well as other media, it is useful to list all the stereotypes you know about various groups of people as precondition for critically reviewing children's books. The books you choose should depict people compassionately and as real human beings. Also consider if images depict all people as genuine individuals with distinctive (rather than stereotypical) features. Books containing stereotypes require you to engage children in critical thinking, but should probably be eliminated from your collection.

BOX 1: Common Harmful/Undermining Stereotypes

Strong, independent girls and women are "manlike"

Book-loving or nonathletic boys and men are "effeminate"

Latino men talk funny, are lazy, gang members, or wear oversize sombreros

Latina women are earth mothers or subservient

African American men are gang members, oversexed, or underemployed

African American women are too independent, oversexed, or "welfare moms"

Arab and/or Muslim men are terrorists

Arab and/or Muslim women are voiceless and passive

All Muslims are Arab / All Arabs are Muslim

American Indians live in teepees, carry bows and arrows, or are half-naked in winter

American Indians were only significant in the past (read)

Disabled people are not independent or are to be pitied

Disabled people must "overcome" their disabilities rather than just live with their disabilities

LGBTQ+ people are invisible

Poor people are invisible

Poor people are depicted as passively needing help from others

AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islanders) are depicted as the "model minority"

AAPI are exotic or their food is exotic/abnormal

All AAPI know martial arts or are meek and compliant

AAPI are portrayed with slanted eyes or just lines to represent eyes

Jewish people are all Zionists (read)

Jewish people are wealthy and yield undue influence in the financial and political world

Look for Tokenism: This is the "one only" message. Regularly seeing only "one" person of any group in a book teaches young children about who is more or less important. Examples of tokenism include books with only one African American child among many white children or having only one book about children with disabilities among many other books. Tokenism also becomes stereotypical. It only allows children to see one view of a group of people, rather than the diversity that exists among all groups.

Look for Invisibility: What children do not see in their books also teaches them about who matters and who doesn't in our society. Invisibility in their storybooks - as well as in textbooks as they get older - undermines children's affirmative sense of themselves and reinforces prejudiced ideas about people who are not seen (See Box 2 for examples of groups who tend to be invisible). The booklists on this website include a great variety of books with groups who are often excluded. (The titles are vetted by Teaching for Change.)

BOX 2: Examples of Groups of People Who Are Often Invisible in Children's Books or Mainstream Media

Families who live in rural areas

Blue-collar workers

Musicians, artists, and writers

Families with two dads or two moms

Single mothers or fathers

Homeless families

Families with an incarcerated parent

People of Middle Eastern descent

Families who practice Islam

Transgender adults and children

Check the Story Line and the Relationships Between People

Even if a book shows visual diversity, the story line may carry biases related to how it handles power relationships among people of various identities. Are whites or male characters the central figures with people of color or female characters in essentially supporting roles? To gain acceptance and/or approval does a child of color, a girl, or child with a disability have to exhibit extraordinary qualities or be the one to understand, forgive, or change? Are the achievements of girls and women based on their own initiative and intelligence, or are they due to their looks or relationship with boys/men?

Are people of color, women, low-income families, or people with disabilities depicted as needing help or in passive roles, while whites, men, and "able-bodied" people are in leadership and action roles? How are problems presented, conceived, and resolved? Who typically causes a problem and who resolves it? Your book collection needs a balance of different people in "doer" roles.

Look at Messages About Different Lifestyles

Do the lives of people of color or people living in poverty in the story contrast unfavorably with the norm of white, middle-class suburban life? Are negative value judgments implied about ways of life that differ from the dominant culture or economic class (e.g., people are to be pitied, or the story is about one person who "gets out" of the less desirable way of life)? Do images and information go beyond oversimplification and offer genuine insights into the lifestyle of the characters in the story? Does the setting reflect current life - or past assumptions about life? Does your book collection depict diversity among people within a specific racial/ethnic group, such as a range of family structures, living environments, socioeconomic conditions and types of work, and male/female roles within the family? (Remember that every racial/ethnic group has diversity, including people who self-identify as white).

Consider the Effects on Children's Self and Social Identities

In addition to specific books, also examine your book collection. Do your books reinforce or counteract messages that teach children to feel inferior or superior because of their skin color, gender, family income, able-bodiedness, or type of family structure? At school, will all of the children you serve see themselves and their family's way of life reflected in your book collection? Will all children of color, including those with mixed heritage, girls, and children from the many types of family structures, children living in poverty, and children with disabilities see one or more characters with whom they can readily and positively identify? If they are visible in your book collection, are the illustrations and information accurate and respectful? Does your overall collection balance the backgrounds of all the children in your program? Does it also show diversity within the social indentity groups to which the children belong (e.g., a range of ways to be female and male, families reflecting different kinds of jobs within a racial/ethnic group). Does your book collection also include a balance between diversity within your classroom and beyond your classroom?

At home, does your book collection reflect diversity among the groups to which your family belongs? Does it have stories about people like you who have contributed to creating a more just world? Does it also include a range of books showing diversity beyond your family and neighborhood?

Look for Books About Children and Adults Engaging in Actions for Change

To fully develop a strong sense of self and a disposition toward cooperation and fairness, children need to know how to stand up for themselves and others when faced with unfairness. They also need to know about people from all social identity groups who have - and are currently - working for justice for all. In addition to previous criteria, here are more items to consider: The story line should be about children and adults working together, rather than perpetrating the myth that change happens because of special, individual people who do it by themselves. Does your book collection include a balance of people who have made important and honored contributions to American life as well as the world community - and not just the traditional white, male "heroes?" Do some of your books about important people include struggles for justice? Do they show people who were/are poor or from racial/ethnic groups of color? Are people with disabilities engaged in these struggles for justice?

Consider the Author's or Illustrator's Background and Perspective

All authors write from a cultural as well as from a personal context. In the past, most children's books were by authors and illustrators who were white and members of the middle class. As a result, a single cultural and class perspective dominated children's literature. There are now excellent books by people of color from a range of backgrounds - although not nearly enough. Consider the biographical material on the jacket flap or back of the book. What qualifies the author or illustrator to deal with the subject? If the book is not about people or events similar to the author or illustrator's background, what specifically recommends them as creators of the book? What is the author's attitude toward her/his story characters? Are the images accurate and do the illustrators respectfully render the people in the story? Do you have books reflecting a balanced range of author and illustrator identities and experiences?

Watch for Loaded Words

A word is loaded when it in any way demeans or makes people invisible because of any of their identities. One example is the generic use of the word "man" to stand for women as well as men (although the opposite never occurs). This traditional terminology is now questioned by many because of its sexist implications. Here are some examples of ways to avoid sexist language: community instead of brotherhood; firefighters inserted of firemen; human family instead of family of man; ancestors instead of forefathers; chairperson instead of chairman. Examples of adjectives applied to people of color that carry racist messages include: "savage," "primitive," "superstitious," "backward," "inscrutable" and "treacherous." Always consider the context in which a word is used and to whom it applies.

Look at the Copyright Date

Copyright dates indicate the publication year, not the time of its writing, which might be two to three years before the copyright date. Although a recent copyright date is no guarantee of a book's relevance or sensitivity, copyright dates are useful information. More children's books began to reflect the reality of a pluralistic society and nonsexist and non-ableist perspectives in the 1970s. Since then, the range of accurate, respectful, and caring books reflecting diversity has increased significantly (unfortunately the diversity of books published in the United States still does not accurately reflect the actual diversity of the people living here). When considering new books for your collection, begin with most recently published ones and then continue with descending copyright dates.

Assess the Appeal of the Story and Illustrations to Young Children

Although these guidelines focus on the messages about diversity and equality reflected in children's books, it is also important to take quality into account. Be sure the book is a "good read." If children find the story or illustrations boring, a book will not hold their attention, even if the book adds a specific kind of diversity you need. Check for active, interesting story lines where different kinds of people are integral to the people in the story, not the main topic. For example, in A Chair for My Mother, a young child tries to save money to get a comfortable chair for her waitress mother. Although the book shows a single parent, working-class family, and a resourceful girl, it is not didactic. Also look for illustrations that are colorful and recognizable to young children. Although they enjoy a range of styles, illustrations that are too subdued or abstract may not hold their attention.

Check for age appropriateness. Most booksellers list any picture book as appropriate for early childhood even if the story line is really for primary grade children. Sometimes a book for older children will work if you simplify the story or "tell" the story rather than read it. In some cases, this is the only way to get books that present specific groups of children (e.g., stories with Cambodian children or children with learning disabilities). Some additional issues to consider:

Many children's books use animal characters instead of people and there are some excellent books that explore diversity with animal characters (e.g., And Tango Makes Three or A Coyote Solstice Tale). Children enjoy these. However, such books are not a substitute for exploring issues of diversity and anti-bias fairness with people as the main characters.

Some early childhood teachers wonder if it is necessary for every book in their collection to show diversity. Every book needs to be accurate, caring, and respectful. However, you will want individual books about specific kinds of people (e.g., a biracial family or a family with adopted children). Diversity becomes essential in the balance of your book collection, where you want to avoid invisibility or tokenism of any group.

Folk and fairy tales have long been a mainstay of children's literature. In the cultures from which they come, folk and fairy tales were used to teach important lessons and values related to their culture of origin. Children love them in their original versions - not their commercially sanitized adaptations. However, folk and fairy tales also carry messages that convey sexism, classism, and racism and must be used thoughtfully as part of introducing young children to diversity and anti-bias values of quality and fairness.

Overuse of folk tales to "teach" about a specific ethnic/cultural group leads to misinformation and confusion. They are about animals and occasionally people from a mythical past and are designed to teach core values and beliefs in their culture of origin. They are not about how people actually live in contemporary society - and that is what young children need to understand. Information and images about how people really live now is what enables young children to build connections to people who are from different cultures while countering stereotypes that children have already absorbed (e.g., how American Indians really live).

Finally there is the somewhat sensitive issue of what to do about "classic" or "well-beloved" children's books. Many of these are wonderful as children's literature, but unfortunately they often convey values of sexism, racism, ableism, or even colonialism. People who love the books that pose this dilemma argue that it is OK to use them because they "reflect their times," which they imply somehow excuses their biased messages. For example, I adored the Babar series of books as a young child and was unpleasantly shocked to realize as an adult how much the images and story lines reflected messages of European colonialism in Africa. I chose not to use them with my own children, wanting them to learn accurate information about how people in Africa really live. Not sharing childhood favorites may sadden some, but it is far better than the harm caused by reinforcing messages of racism and colonialism.
In a nutshell - as you choose books or critically examine your current book selection, always keep in mind the power of books - their words and their images - to nurture or, conversely, to undermine a child's sense of self, positive attitude toward others, and motivation to act for fairness.
Additional Resources

Louise Derman-Sparks is an internationally respected anti-bias educator and author (along with Julie Olsen Edwards) of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. She has co-authored several additional books with Dr. Carol Brunson Day (Teaching/Learning Anti-Racism), the ABC Task Force ( Anti-Bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children), Dr. Patricia Ramsey (What If All the Kids Are White?), and Dr. John Nimmo and Debbie Leekeenan ( Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change). She speaks throughout the United States and abroad, and served on the NAEYC Governing Board from 1998 to 2001. Louise has a lifelong commitment to building a more just society for all people. Her children Douglass and Holly, now grown, were her inspiration. A Pacific Oaks College faculty member for 33 years - when its mission and pedagogy reflected anti-bias education principles - Louise is now retired.
*In 1980, the Council on Interracial Books for Children published the book Guidelines for Selecting Bias-Free Textbooks and Storybooks. A shorter version of the book in pamphlet form, "Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism," followed. One of the first guides written for teachers and families, it became an invaluable tool for hundreds of thousands of people. Both the book and pamphlet have been out of print for several years. Rethinking Schools published their adaptation of the original Guidelines in 1994.

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Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books - Social Justice Books

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By Louise Derman-Sparks Based on "Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism." Updated in 2013.* Children's books continue to be an invaluable source of information and values. They reflect the attitudes in our society about diversity, power relationships among different groups of people, and various social identities (e.g., racial, ethnic, gender, [...]

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Story time with Somayah | The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab & Family

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family - Social Justice Books

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Review Source: Hijabi Librarians Book Author: Faizah admires older sister Asiya’s new, strikingly blue and beautiful first-day-hijab, finding inner strength and pride when facing bullies at school who make fun of it. This book discussion was conducted on May 12, 2019, and was based on the fold & gather, received from Little, Brown Books for Young […]

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I think having common definitions will help as well; as a school or PLC.

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Is there something that explains why there might be need for further conversation with the items in the grey shaded boxes or what the issues are or the implications connected to different items.

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StoryMakers with Traci Sorell WE ARE GRATEFUL, OTSALIHELIGA

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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I think almost every American adult in my life has some attachment to Dr. Seuss and his classics like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Now, these very same adults are exposing their children and grandchildren to his books. Passing beloved stories down to our children in some way allows grow-ups to hold onto their childhood memories just a little bit longer. Dr. Seuss books still have a pretty comfortable seat on the best-selling list of children's books. You'll find these books in almost every early childhood classroom across the country because they're witty; they support early readers with text that is full of rhyme and repetition; and they take the reader on imaginative journeys.

Well, here's the shattering truth--Dr. Seuss was a racist. Here's why, why it matters, and what you can do about it.

Before his career as a children's author where he was known as Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel's early works were laden with racist language and illustrations. He targeted racial and ethnic minority groups in his cartoons and advertisements, depicting Jewish people, Muslims, Arabs, Japanese, Indigenous people, and Black people using racist stereotypes and in exoticized ways. For example, Black people were often portrayed as monkeys in his work, accompanied by captions using the n-word.

These racist attitudes were carried through to his children's books. In 2019, The Conscious Kid published a study where they analyzed fifty of the fifty-nine Dr. Seuss books through the lens of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism. Of the 2,240 human characters that were depicted in his books, only 2% represented POC. BIPOC characters are basically excluded from Dr. Seuss's books, and his few inclusions of these characters promote racism and white supremacy. The examples that I found to be the most disturbing are from If I Ran the Zoo, where we meet the only two characters, out of the 2,240 characters in Dr. Seuss's books, who are African and/or Black. These characters are portrayed as monkeys and their representation leans into exotification and stereotypes. Within the same book, Asian characters are depicted as subservient as they carry a white male who is holding a gun on top of their heads. The text on this page reads, "helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant" and continues on the next page "I'll catch 'em in countries that no one can spell."

Even the non-human characters in Dr. Seuss books are racialized. The infamous icon, the black cat of The Cat in the Hat was inspired by a Black woman who operated the elevator at the publishing office where Seuss would frequent. The character evolved and took on a stereotypical personality that was commonly evoked by blackface performers. This isn't surprising given that early in his career, Dr. Seuss wrote and performed in his own minstrel show, Chicopee Surprised.

The Sneetches is often used to teach concepts of anti-racism and discrimination to young children and is promoted on several social-justice platforms. The oppressed group (Plain-belly Sneetches) are portrayed as moping in their sadness and that they expend all their resources and efforts to try to become like the dominant group (Star-belly Sneetches). However, as the study says, "[t]his is a problematic and misguided way of perceiving oppressed groups. Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture. Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor" (Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón, 2019).

This is just a small sample of some of the problematic aspects of Theodore Geisel's work and Dr. Seuss books. I highly encourage you to read the whole study here: The Cat is Out of the Bag.

While some argue that children would not understand these deeper interpretations of his texts due to the whimsical nature of his stories and illustrations, that is just not true. After reading this study, I pulled out the extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books that I have in my home and re-read them with a critical lens only to find that the themes of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism are garishly prevalent. I have used Dr. Seuss books in my classroom for the last ten years. I feel disgusted knowing that I not only celebrated these texts, but the life of Theodore Geisel. Dr. Seuss books will no longer have a place in my home.

The messages that children absorb through literature will impact their racial beliefs. Without proper support in navigating the harmful messages from books like Dr. Seuss's, children are likely to transfer what they read to their play and social life. Books act as mirrors where children hope to find accurate representations of their identities, families, communities, interests, and abilities in the illustrations and text. Children are quick to recognize the exclusion of their identity and internalize lack of representation as a reflection of their worth. When white children read books that primarily celebrate characters that look like them, they internalize their race to be superior. The study says it well: "[w]hen children's books center Whiteness, erase people of color and other oppressed groups, or present people of color in stereotypical, dehumanizing, or subordinate ways, they both ingrain and reinforce internalized racism and White supremacy" (Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón, 2019).

There is no reason to continue promoting his books that feature negative portrayals of BIPOC characters. Children who lack diversity and cultural exposure in their daily life learn much about the world through the books they read. If a trusted adult offers a racist text to a child, the child may absorb these harmful messages and believe that those ideas and portrayals are perfectly okay.

"Ms. Meghan, these books help children learn how to rhyme and spell and read! Now, what will I use to teach my kids?" Great question! Here is a list of books that I have compiled that parents and educators can use instead of Dr. Seuss books when teaching children phonics, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, and more! All of the books in this collection feature human characters instead of animals or mythical creatures. Children are much more impacted by books that feature human characters that look, act, think, and talk like them, than non-human characters. When they read a book with human characters, the social or moral message of the story is more likely to stick than if the same story was told with anthropomorphic animals/characters. I tried to select a diverse range of titles to represent all of the beautiful children in our world. If there are books that you feel are missing from this list, please let me know and I'm happy to add them! (These books were selected with ages 0-8 in mind).

To purchase any of the following books, please visit my Bookshop Affiliate link! Bookshop is an online storefront that supports local, independent bookstores.
click to view enlarged images

If you can't bear to shed Dr. Seuss books from your life, then teach your children about critical reading and analyze these books alongside them. Help little ones to see the importance of accurate, appropriate, and inclusive representation in books. Know that without proper guidance from adults, children are likely to internalize messages of exclusion, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness from Dr. Seuss's books. If you are working towards becoming anti-racist, then nostalgia isn't a good enough reason to hold onto books that devalue and degrade BIPOC people. If we are raising racially conscious children, there isn't room for neutrality and excuses. When something or someone is racist, let's call it out and shift towards bringing those who promote justice and inclusivity into the spotlight. There are fabulous authors and illustrators out there who are committed to creating works of art that celebrate the diverse society we live in.

I think almost every American adult in my life has some attachment to Dr. Seuss and his classics like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Now, these very same adults are exposing their children and grandchildren to his books. Passing beloved stories down to our children in some way allows grow-ups to hold onto their childhood memories just a little bit longer. Dr. Seuss books still have a pretty comfortable seat on the best-selling list of children's books. You'll find these books in almost every early childhood classroom across the country because they're witty; they support early readers with text that is full of rhyme and repetition; and they take the reader on imaginative journeys.

Well, here's the shattering truth--Dr. Seuss was a racist. Here's why, why it matters, and what you can do about it.

Before his career as a children's author where he was known as Dr. Seuss, Theodore Geisel's early works were laden with racist language and illustrations. He targeted racial and ethnic minority groups in his cartoons and advertisements, depicting Jewish people, Muslims, Arabs, Japanese, Indigenous people, and Black people using racist stereotypes and in exoticized ways. For example, Black people were often portrayed as monkeys in his work, accompanied by captions using the n-word.

These racist attitudes were carried through to his children's books. In 2019, The Conscious Kid published a study where they analyzed fifty of the fifty-nine Dr. Seuss books through the lens of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism. Of the 2,240 human characters that were depicted in his books, only 2% represented POC. BIPOC characters are basically excluded from Dr. Seuss's books, and his few inclusions of these characters promote racism and white supremacy. The examples that I found to be the most disturbing are from If I Ran the Zoo, where we meet the only two characters, out of the 2,240 characters in Dr. Seuss's books, who are African and/or Black. These characters are portrayed as monkeys and their representation leans into exotification and stereotypes. Within the same book, Asian characters are depicted as subservient as they carry a white male who is holding a gun on top of their heads. The text on this page reads, "helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant" and continues on the next page "I'll catch 'em in countries that no one can spell."

Even the non-human characters in Dr. Seuss books are racialized. The infamous icon, the black cat of The Cat in the Hat was inspired by a Black woman who operated the elevator at the publishing office where Seuss would frequent. The character evolved and took on a stereotypical personality that was commonly evoked by blackface performers. This isn't surprising given that early in his career, Dr. Seuss wrote and performed in his own minstrel show, Chicopee Surprised.

The Sneetches is often used to teach concepts of anti-racism and discrimination to young children and is promoted on several social-justice platforms. The oppressed group (Plain-belly Sneetches) are portrayed as moping in their sadness and that they expend all their resources and efforts to try to become like the dominant group (Star-belly Sneetches). However, as the study says, "[t]his is a problematic and misguided way of perceiving oppressed groups. Oppressed communities are generally fighting to hang on to their own culture and identity and not have it colonized, erased, marginalized, or appropriated by the dominant culture. Oppressed people want to be free of oppression, they do not want to be their oppressor" (Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón, 2019).

This is just a small sample of some of the problematic aspects of Theodore Geisel's work and Dr. Seuss books. I highly encourage you to read the whole study here: The Cat is Out of the Bag.

While some argue that children would not understand these deeper interpretations of his texts due to the whimsical nature of his stories and illustrations, that is just not true. After reading this study, I pulled out the extensive collection of Dr. Seuss books that I have in my home and re-read them with a critical lens only to find that the themes of anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Orientalism are garishly prevalent. I have used Dr. Seuss books in my classroom for the last ten years. I feel disgusted knowing that I not only celebrated these texts, but the life of Theodore Geisel. Dr. Seuss books will no longer have a place in my home.

The messages that children absorb through literature will impact their racial beliefs. Without proper support in navigating the harmful messages from books like Dr. Seuss's, children are likely to transfer what they read to their play and social life. Books act as mirrors where children hope to find accurate representations of their identities, families, communities, interests, and abilities in the illustrations and text. Children are quick to recognize the exclusion of their identity and internalize lack of representation as a reflection of their worth. When white children read books that primarily celebrate characters that look like them, they internalize their race to be superior. The study says it well: "[w]hen children's books center Whiteness, erase people of color and other oppressed groups, or present people of color in stereotypical, dehumanizing, or subordinate ways, they both ingrain and reinforce internalized racism and White supremacy" (Ishizuka, Katie and Stephens*, Ramón, 2019).

There is no reason to continue promoting his books that feature negative portrayals of BIPOC characters. Children who lack diversity and cultural exposure in their daily life learn much about the world through the books they read. If a trusted adult offers a racist text to a child, the child may absorb these harmful messages and believe that those ideas and portrayals are perfectly okay.

"Ms. Meghan, these books help children learn how to rhyme and spell and read! Now, what will I use to teach my kids?" Great question! Here is a list of books that I have compiled that parents and educators can use instead of Dr. Seuss books when teaching children phonics, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, and more! All of the books in this collection feature human characters instead of animals or mythical creatures. Children are much more impacted by books that feature human characters that look, act, think, and talk like them, than non-human characters. When they read a book with human characters, the social or moral message of the story is more likely to stick than if the same story was told with anthropomorphic animals/characters. I tried to select a diverse range of titles to represent all of the beautiful children in our world. If there are books that you feel are missing from this list, please let me know and I'm happy to add them! (These books were selected with ages 0-8 in mind).

To purchase any of the following books, please visit my Bookshop Affiliate link! Bookshop is an online storefront that supports local, independent bookstores.
click to view enlarged images

If you can't bear to shed Dr. Seuss books from your life, then teach your children about critical reading and analyze these books alongside them. Help little ones to see the importance of accurate, appropriate, and inclusive representation in books. Know that without proper guidance from adults, children are likely to internalize messages of exclusion, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness from Dr. Seuss's books. If you are working towards becoming anti-racist, then nostalgia isn't a good enough reason to hold onto books that devalue and degrade BIPOC people. If we are raising racially conscious children, there isn't room for neutrality and excuses. When something or someone is racist, let's call it out and shift towards bringing those who promote justice and inclusivity into the spotlight. There are fabulous authors and illustrators out there who are committed to creating works of art that celebrate the diverse society we live in.

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Dr. Seuss was racist. Why are we still reading his books? - Teach for the Change

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I think almost every American adult in my life has some attachment to Dr. Seuss and his classics like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Now, these very same adults are exposing their children and grandchildren to his books.