Back to School: The Growing Impact of Book Bans on Diverse Children’s Literature

By Naomi V. Dunsen-White

As the new school year begins, educators, parents, students, and SCBWI members, too, find themselves facing a critical challenge: the rising trend of book banning. What began as isolated incidents in some cities and states has now become a national issue affecting classrooms and libraries across the country. Unfortunately, books that highlight diversity—whether racial, cultural, or physical—are often among the first to be challenged.

I know I am not alone in managing a full cup of righteous indignation on behalf of children. As children’s book authors and illustrators, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. This war on books is a challenge to us, our passion, and our purpose.

 

Naomi and Students at a School

Of Course, Diverse Books Matter!

Children’s literature plays an essential role in shaping young minds. Diverse books allow children from all backgrounds to see themselves represented in stories, building self-esteem, empathy, and understanding. For Black and Brown children, books that feature characters who look like them and reflect their experiences are especially powerful. These stories offer validation and teach others to appreciate and respect differences.

Books that explore cultural traditions, disabilities, and other forms of diversity serve as windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors. They allow children to see both their own experiences (mirrors) and the experiences of others (windows), as well as the invitation to step out into a world in which they feel they belong (sliding glass doors). This promotes empathy, inclusion, and a personal sense of belonging. These things are key to their emotional health.

I smile when I think of this for all children. As a mature Black woman, this was definitely not my experience growing up. I write for underrepresented children because I long to contribute to a better childhood experience for them than what I had as a shy but smart little book lover.

 

The Threat of Book Bans on Representation

Book banning disproportionately affects diverse literature. Is anyone surprised by this? Many of the books challenged are those that portray people of Color, marginalized communities, LGBTQ+ characters, or complex cultural narratives. By banning these books, we risk silencing the voices of these underrepresented groups and denying all children the opportunity to learn about the real world that exists beyond their own personal experiences.

These bans also reinforce harmful stereotypes and perpetuate ignorance. Haven’t we had enough of that? When books featuring children of Color, differently abled children, or non-traditional families are removed from shelves, it sends the message that their stories—and by extension, their lives—are not valuable. Frankly, to them, this means they are not valued. This can have lasting effects on a child’s self-worth and worldview. This is cruel. This is wrong.

 

The Consequences for Our Children

For children from marginalized or underrepresented communities, book banning can be especially damaging. It robs them of the chance to see themselves as the explorers, thinkers, heroes, inventors, overcomers, and leaders in the stories they read. When diverse books are excluded from classrooms and libraries, children may feel invisible or unimportant. As often as I can, I share my belief that “Books are for ALL children, not just some children!” They are all OUR children.

The awful impact of book banning is not limited to children from underrepresented or marginalized groups. ALL children benefit from exposure to diverse stories. Learning about different cultures, abilities, and experiences fosters empathy, reduces prejudice, promotes acceptance and inclusion, and encourages open-mindedness. Isn’t that what we want for our children—ALL children?

 

What SCBWI Members Can Do

As authors and illustrators, we are on the front lines of this battle. We are in a war for our children to have the freedom to read! Our work is crucial in ensuring that all children have access to stories that reflect the diverse world we live in. Here are a few ways I think we can do our part to help fight the harmful effects of book bans:

1. Create with Intention: Let’s continue writing and illustrating stories that showcase diverse voices. Don’t shy away from complex topics or difficult narratives. Are you a member of a marginalized or underrepresented community? If so, share your perspective through the eyes, faces, and stories of children! Or do you know someone who could help you understand their experience as a member of a marginalized or underrepresented community? You could join efforts to help share their perspective. That book on your Work-in-Progress list could be a lifeline for many children who need to see themselves reflected in the pages of a book.
2. Raise Awareness: We can use our community, online, and social media platforms to speak out against book banning. We can share resources, articles, and personal experiences to educate our readers and followers about the importance of diverse literature. 
3. Support Banned Books: We can collaborate with organizations that fight for the right to read. We can join initiatives like Banned Books Week, join online organizations dedicated to fight book banning, volunteer and support our local libraries, or donate a few of our diverse books to schools and communities affected by book bans. SCBWI partners with Authors Against Book Bans. Join the movement!
4. Partner with Educators: Offer help to teachers and librarians to ensure that diverse books remain accessible to their students. I always encourage my clients and fellow authors to consider creating educational resources, discussion guides, and activities that promote diversity to accompany their books.
5. Consider Joining the Equity and Inclusion Team: Do you have ideas that may help us in our goal to promote and support diversity, equity, and inclusion amongst our members? We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. We not only focus on what we write, but we also focus on who we are. We want to make sure that our members from diverse backgrounds, underrepresented or marginalized communities are supported as well. You are welcome to join us! For further information about joining our E&I Team, contact me, Naomi, at naomibooksinfo@gmail.com. 

The Power of Our Pens (and Paints)

As children’s book authors and illustrators, we know books are powerful tools that can change lives and shape futures. It’s why we do what we do! As we head into this new school year, it’s so important that we not only promote diverse children’s literature, but protect it. Every child deserves to see themselves in the books they read and have stories that speak to a life they recognize. Each child deserves to learn about the rich tapestry of human experience beyond their home, their school, their community. It creates a longing within them to one day step out and discover the world!

Book banning may be on the rise, but together, we can ensure that diverse voices are not silenced. By continuing to write for our children—creating, advocating, and educating, we can make a lasting impact on the next generation of readers. Remember, our words are forever. Long after we are gone, our books will remain. Let’s make every word count.

 

Naomi V. Dunsen-White is an award-winning, independent children’s book author who loves to inspire and encourage children to use their imagination to discover their potential. She writes books that promote diversity, uplift self-esteem, and inspire discovery of one’s purpose. As a former educator and social worker, Naomi has a heart for helping children and a passion for closing the diversity gap in the children’s book industry. She believes all children deserve to have books with characters who look like them and stories that positively represent a world to which they can relate. She also believes that all children have a gift within, just waiting to be discovered. It’s up to us, the adults in their lives, to help them discover it.

 

Naomi is also an editor, writing development coach, and author coach. She takes great pride in amplifying diverse voices and helping others fulfill their dreams of becoming published authors, leaving a legacy for the next generation. Naomi serves as Chairperson of the Equity and Inclusion Team for The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Michigan Chapter.

 

Writer Spotlight: Kelly DiPucchio

 

Parts One and Two, the Queen, Zombie drama, and what's next?: Picture book author and scriptwriter Kelly DiPucchio

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet Kelly DiPucchio, a prolific picture book writer who's collaborated with a Queen, visited with Oprah, and is currently writing scripts for PBS.

You were born in Warren, MI in 1967, yet there is talk of a goat and a manure pile. Was Warren more rural back then? What was life like for young Kelly?

Kelly and brother

I was born in Warren, but I grew up in Rochester, Michigan which was very rural back in the 1970’s. Like many long novels, my childhood had a Part One and a Part Two. In Part One, my family lived on a small farm, and I had a lot of freedom to explore the outdoors. I loved spending time in nature. I talked to animals and the trees, and I was an extraordinarily imaginative child. 

In Part Two, my parents got divorced. I moved with my mom into an apartment near the city, changed schools, and life was drastically different. One thing that was consistent in both parts of the story was my unending love for books. When I was young, they were fuel for my imagination and when I was older, they became a lifeline and an escape to other worlds.

You revealed to an interviewer that it wasn’t until you had children of your own that you considered writing as a work-from-home career. Was it the bedtime stories, gifted books, eventful trips to the library, or something else that whispered, “You, too, can write children’s books.”?

The initial catalyst came in the form of a dream in which my deceased grandfather appeared as a turtle. But that’s a story for another article!  I also credit Jon Sciezka for playing a role in my journey because it was after reading his absurdly funny picture book with Lane Smith, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, that I began to fall deeply in love with picture books.

You mentioned you had a dream where a relative was a turtle, but that story would have to wait. Fair enough. But, do you find your dreams are part of your creative process? You talk of being in the Zone. Are dreams part of your unconscious, subconscious zone?

I think dreams are definitely connected to my creative process but not always in an obvious or tangible way. 

By that, I mean I rarely dream about my characters or a specific story. I do, however, get some of my best inspiration when my brain is in theta, the stage right before fully waking. This happens a lot but if I don't write the idea down immediately, it will very often slip away.

Kelly and Queen

Much has been made of The Sandwich Swap, written in collaboration Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, including your appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show. With 14 years in the rear-view mirror, what stands out most in your memories of that time?

Honestly, when I look back at that special time in my life it all feels a bit surreal. I think the thing that stands out the most is the memory of being at the Oprah Winfrey Show and pinching myself. 

A decade earlier I was a stay-at-home mom watching Oprah on television and feeling inspired by many of her guests who had overcome challenges and made their dreams come true. So for me to be there, in Harpo Studios, having just co-authored a children’s book for a QUEEN was absolutely mind-blowing to me. It still is!

There was some talk that you made a deal with your Higher Power that you would give back to the world for all the blessings and good fortune you’d experienced. Are you more comfortable with your success these days?

I don’t know if I would call it a deal. At one point early in my career, I decided to get out of my own way, and I asked my Higher Power to be used as an instrument for the greatest good of all. 

Switzer Welcomes Kelly

When I learned to trust there was a higher purpose and plan for my work, I didn’t worry as much about sales or reviews or even whether or not I’d sell another book. 

Of course, I always hope my books will be well-received and people will want to buy them, but I’ve come to learn that success is relative and fickle, so I try not to dwell on it.

Your macabre Valentine’s gift to readers, Zombie in Love, was made into a stage play, written by Michelle Eliot with music by Danny Larsen. Have you ever attended a performance?

I did! In 2014, I saw the world premier in Portland, Oregon. It was hilarious and the music and lyrics were to die for. 

Grace For President was also turned into a musical and I had the opportunity to see a show in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is an incredibly wild and humbling experience to be sitting in the audience watching a bunch of strangers bring your characters to life on stage in such a creative, entertaining way.

You told an interviewer, “When I’m in the Zone, I’m pretty much taking dictation and writing the stories I’m hearing in my head.” Do you find that “Zone” often?

I would say I find “the zone” fairly often and when I do, I know I’m on the right track because there’s an ease and a flow to the writing. It’s never a good sign when I’m trying too hard to make a manuscript or an idea work no matter how much I love it.

You told another interviewer that your creative process involves meditation, and visualizing the book as completed. How often does the completed book match up with your original vision?

Kelly and audience

I don’t get too attached to a specific vision when I’m meditating because my vision will always come with limitations. 

So I try to be a little vague and open with my visualizing and instead focus on my feelings: How would it feel to be holding the published book in my hands? How would it feel to be reading it out loud to an audience? 

I think whenever we can generate feelings of joy or excitement or love during the creative process our stories are somehow imbued with those higher vibrations.

What’s next for Kelly DiPucchio?

Over the past year I’ve been busy writing episodes for a new children’s series that premiers in November on PBS Kids called Carl the Collector. It’s the first ever animated show featuring multiple neurodiverse characters.

I also have my very first Christmas picture book coming out in September called The Gingerbread House Jack’s Family Ate, illustrated by Nate Wragg (Scholastic/Orchard). It’s a “sweetly chaotic” story based on the classic rhyme, The House That Jack Built. Cumulative tales, it turns out, are annoyingly difficult to write but I’m delighted with how the book turned out and I can’t wait to share it with readers this fall.

 

Wow! A PBS show for you and a character who is neuro-divergent. Are you writing scripts? How much say do you have in the final project? How did this come about? When does your first show air?

 

Yes! I am writing scripts for the show. It's been both exciting and challenging. I had so much to learn! 

I work with an amazing team of advisors who weigh in on every pitch and draft. Zachariah OHora is the show creator and Executive Producer. 

Zach and I worked on a picture book together several years ago called POE WON'T GO and we remained friends ever since. 

When he was looking for writers to join his team, he reached out to me to gauge my interest. I was thrilled for the opportunity to try something new. I don't know yet when my first episode will air but the series premieres November 14th. I can't wait!

Please share your socials:

Instagram: @kellydipucchio

Website: www.kellydipucchio.com

 

 

 

Writer Spotlight: Helen Frost

 

Alaska, Scotland, novels in verse, close-up with nature, poetry, and drama: Author and poet Helen Frost

Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI-MI. In this piece, meet Helen Frost, who has lived in interesting places, but has not lived in Michigan. However, she is an honorary Michigander because of her frequent trips and many writer friends in this state. (Like we need an excuse to find out more about this spectacular poet and writer.)

Helen picking apples

We could start with your books, but much of your life as a teacher has just as many stories to tell. Like how you spent 3 years as the sole teacher of a place called Telida with a population of 25 somewhere remote, I’d guess, in Alaska. Care to tell part of that story?

First day in Telida

Yes, that was an important part of my life. Telida was a small village in interior Alaska, accessible by small plane, boat, snowmobile or dog-team, but not by road. The school district was about the size of Ohio, and had eight schools, each with anywhere from the five students I had my first year in Telida to about 100 in McGrath, where the district offices were located. 

This was in the early 80’s, when communication was limited to a once-a-week mail plane, and available technology was a radio meeting on Friday afternoons, where the eight principal teachers called in for information from the district office. 

Birthday in Telida

I had an Apple IIE computer, and got a modem before we had a telephone, so I was ready for email when it became possible. No world-wide web, though I was part of a project to figure out how to use it in rural teaching situations. I remember learning, and teaching, how to cut and paste text—a miracle!

I was the only teacher, and came to love the community. I met my husband, a linguist working with Athabaskan languages at the Alaska Native Language Center in Fairbanks, when I was in Telida, and after three years, I moved to Fairbanks to be with him.

Oh, and you taught in Scotland at the Kilquhanity House School, which I guess would be private and maybe posh? You like to travel, but how did you get to Scotland, and why?

Helen and sister Barbie, circa 1954

This question makes me laugh! Private, yes, but posh—not at all. “Killy,” as it was known, was a progressive boarding school that had roots in A.S. Neill’s Summerhill. 

It was in an old manor house in rural Scotland that included a farm, and the students all had “useful work” required of them each morning before classes began—working in the garden, “mucking out” the animals’ stalls, sweeping the dorms, cutting up onions in the kitchen, etc. 

Once a week we had a council meeting where each of us, students, teachers, houseparents, headmaster, had a vote and decisions were made by the whole school. One of the older students would chair the meeting, and anyone could bring up a problem for discussion and solution. It was idealistic by design. I was a teacher of the youngest students (8-10 year-olds) and a housemother for young teens (12-14 or so). I worked there for 2 1/2 years in the late 70’s.

You taught on the East Coast, too. What was the turning point, when you gave writing the top priority? Or did you realize you could teach more than a classroom at a time with your books?

Helen high school candid

It was a gradual transition, not a specific turning point, with all the complications that any life has, involving money, family, vocation, etc.

You write novels in verse, all the rage now with poet/authors like K. A. Holt, Jason Reynolds or Kwame Alexander. But you were doing it before them. Were you a pioneer in the genre?

I think of Karen Hesse as the main pioneer, though there were others, and maybe I was among them. When Out of the Dust won the Newbery in 1998, more people started taking this mixed genre form seriously.

What is the difference between writing in verse versus writing poetry?

That’s a hard one. I like to say I write novels-in-poems, but I’m fine with novels-in-verse as a descriptor of my books. I do love to see how serious poets handle the challenges posed in writing novels for young readers. 

I’ve always loved traditional poetic forms, and that has been part of my work for children as well as for adults, but it’s not the only criteria for identifying poetry, by any means. If you read a lot of poetry, you come to recognize it when you see it.

Talk about your first published novel. What inspired you to tell an older-kid story in verse? How hard a sell was it?

In Frances Foster's office

I’d been working as part of an interdisciplinary team of artists (a dancer, a drummer, a visual artist, and a poet—me!), meeting “at-risk youth” in various social service agencies, and devoting a lot of time to typing up their poems and creating books that allowed them to see their poems in print.  

It was heavy emotional work, and my personal response to their stories began to take shape in poetry of my own, which eventually became a book, Keesha’s House. It wasn’t easy to sell it, and I didn’t have an agent at the time, but eventually it found a home with Frances Foster at FSG—the biggest blessing of my writing life.

Please recall for us the fateful day when you met Rick Lieder at a book signing at the Book Beat. You and Sarah Miller and Kathe Koja were signing books, and Kathe is married to Rick. And she says…?

Yes, Kathe was also working with Frances, and I’d admired her work and Rick’s covers for her books before we met. It was Kathe’s idea that Rick and I might be good collaborators, and she is still one of our biggest fans! I’ll always love Book Beat for bringing us together.

One thing I remember about that is Kathe’s observation that “Sarah is reading from a book with a main character named Helen (Miss Spitfire, about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller), and Helen is reading from a book with a main character named Sarah (The Braid).”

You two worked a long several years without an offer. What kept you pursuing this vision of Rick’s macro photography and your poetry comingling into a book?

We both loved what we were doing, and seemed to share a stubborn streak that kept us working long after many people might have given up.

But then you got an agent and editor and a published book. And it got lots of attention, because it was unlike any non-fiction picture book out there. Was it fun getting some adulation?

Well, of course that was fun. Thank you for your generous wording of this question! That book, Step Gently Out, is still in print and still popular among small children and their parents and teachers. I’m getting a similar feeling as we share our latest book,

The Mighty Pollinators, and have high hopes that it will have a similarly long run.

Since then, the two of you have collaborated on many more books, many with soothing-sounding names. How does your combined creative process work?

It is a truly collaborative process from beginning to end. We talk on the phone or occasionally in person, bouncing ideas for new work back and forth until we land on something we are each enthusiastic about. Then we work to put together a proposal, and show it to our agent, Ginger Knowlton, who shares it with Sarah Ketchersid, our Candlewick editor. 

After a proposal results in a contract, Rick and I work hard to refine it, and then it goes back to Sarah who works with Candlewick’s book-design team through the whole process from manuscript to publication. It is wonderful to share each new book with children, some for the first time, others who know our earlier books and are happy to discover a new one.

You’ve been no slouch with the MG and YA novels-in-verse, with more than a handful of titles. How do you tell a story a poem at a time?

Exactly like that—a poem at a time!

I love having a full tool-box of what are sometimes considered fiction-writing tools (narrative structure, characters’ voices, setting, etc.) with poetry tools (sharp imagery, cadence, musicality, etc.); the challenges and rewards of working with both at the same time help me get my stories told. 

Why Darkness Seems So Light is a play that you wrote. Have you seen it performed? How did you come to write a play? Are there more ideas for future plays?

That was another collaboration. I was approached by Harvey Cocks, the legendary Youth Theatre director, with an idea he’d learned about from a group in Flint, Michigan who had addressed an epidemic of youth violence by producing a play. 

I was tasked with inviting high school students to share their experiences concerning violence. I went into six very different schools, five times each, and, with the support of wonderful teachers, created a safe atmosphere where  10th graders could write their stories. 

Young friends reading The Mighty Pollinators

It was extremely difficult and sobering to receive those 240 stories. I selected 40 of them and edited an anthology, which was published by Pecan Grove Press. Harvey and I then worked together to shape the stories into a play. 

A few years later, after Keesha’s House was published, I wrote a play, with Harvey’s help, based on that book, which has been produced a number of times, but never published. Harvey is no longer living, and at this point, I don’t think I will write another play without him.

Your first collection of poetry, Skin of a Fish, Bones of a Bird, published in 1993. Selling a collection of poetry must have been an uphill battle. How did that first book of poems happen?

I worked very hard on poetry for about twenty years, writing and sending poems to magazines, anthologies, etc., taking in stride the inevitable rejections, rejoicing in the acceptances and occasional awards, then gathering enough poems for a book and sending that out, mostly to competitions, until, just as I was about to give up on it, it found a perfect and wonderful editor, Martha Christina, who selected and published it as the second book in the Ampersand Women Poets Series.

You wrote a book on writing, When I Whisper, Nobody Listens. Was it the teacher or the writer in you that made this book happen?

Definitely both.

(Helen sent a number of photos and images  that required more explanation. Here they are:)

Valdez, Alaska 2013

 What a post-cardy winter scene. What's going on in Valdez, Alaska 2013?

That was the Alaska Library Association meeting where I was a speaker, and it snowed 18” overnight.

 

Cast of "Crossing Stones", Germany

What was “Crossing Stones”? With a cast of actors in Germany?

Crossing Stones was my novel, set in 1917, during World War I. It was quite remarkable to see a cast of German students portray the American young people who had participated (as well as questioned our role) in the war.

Helen and Chad in Germany

Chad is your husband. Are you both in Germany for “Crossing Stones”?

Yes, I went over a few days before he did, to give some writing workshops. 

After seeing the play, we had a great time hiking in the Black Forest and meeting new friends.

Parade for William Allen White award 2014

What is the William Allen White award, and there was a parade?

It was an award for Hidden, voted on by thousands of Kansas school children, with a celebration of the winners at Emporia University in Emporia, Kansas, and yes, it included a parade that made us (two winners) fell like huge celebrities.

Printz committee and authors, 2004

You won (at least) one Printz honor. Here’s a photo from 2004 showing committee and authors. Tell us more.

I won a Printz honor for House in 2004. That year, AKA was in Orlando, and it was wonderful to meet the other authors and the committee.

SALT with a sticker

SALT with sticker?

The Children’s History Book Prize was awarded to Salt by the New York Historical Society in 2014.

 

Helen and Francis

Helen and Frances ?

That one was taken at Miami University when Peter Sis was receiving the Arbuthnot Award. Frances Foster was also his editor, and Oxford, Ohio is closer to me than NYC, so I drove down to celebrate Peter and have some time with Frances. It was a special time because I was working with Frances on Salt at the time, and she was able to meet some of the Myaamia (Miami) scholars who had helped with my research and were eagerly awaiting the book’s publication.

What’s next for Helen Frost?

Everything is in the “too early to talk about” stage at the moment.

Please share any social media platforms:

website with occasional updates on the “what’s new” page:

www.helenfrost.net

Instagram: helenfrost510

Facebook two pages:

Personal profile: helenfrost.10

Candlewick books:

search for: Beautiful Picture Books- Rick Lieder and Helen Frost