Three elementary-aged girls reading a book in a library

Faculty Work-in-Progress—“Why Black not Blue? Revising & Reimagining Children’s Picture Books in the Age of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Movement”

Is the cat in Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat black? Is presenting images of enslaved people smiling ever appropriate in children’s literature? What is the impact of personifying a bad mood in blackface in a picture book?

Cara Byrne, a lecturer in the Department of English and the research advisor on diverse children’s literature for the Schubert Center for Child Studies, will discuss images in children’s picture books and the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Movement in an upcoming Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Faculty Work-in-Progress talk.

Byrne will explore recent controversies surrounding picture books for young readers, including The Bad Mood and the Stick, A Birthday Cake for George Washington and Islandborn.

She will analyze how the current #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement both advocates for increased representation of children of diverse racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and encourages a deeper understanding of how illustrative art possesses its own complex ties to racist tropes in children’s literature.

Byrne’s talk, titled “Why Black not Blue? Revising & Reimagining Children’s Picture Books in the Age of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Movement,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 30, from 4:30 to 5:30 in Clark Hall, Room 206.

Register for Byrne’s talk.