Today might be the last day of March, but it doesn’t have to
be the last day that we lift up women in kidlit. We can celebrate the writing
and illustrating of women creating books for kids all year long. And that
celebration will be even better if it’s inclusive of all women, including, but
not limited to, women of color, women of all religions, women from different
economic backgrounds, disabled women, neurodiverse women, LGBTIQA women, and nonbinary
people too.
Here are a few ways that we can continue this momentum:
* Follow the hashtags #KidlitWomen, #WomenInIllustration, and
#KidlitEquality (which includes nonbinary people, and which is starting to be
used already) on Twitter, and use them to continue the conversation.
* Read #KidlitWomen articles from March you missed, and tell others about them too. Post a link or
reblog/retweet/retumbl/repost it for people who follow you on social media in
case they haven’t read the article yet, or they did, but want to reread.
* Check out the Women Children’s Book Illustrators Pinterest
board (https://www.pinterest.com/joycewanbooks/women-childrens-book-illustrators/), made by Joyce Wan and Theresa Kietlinski, and use it as a springboard to
find new favorite illustrators, or to find new illustrated books to read. Share
your favorites on social media, at the library or bookstore, at schools, or
with family and friends as gifts.
* Look for books written and/or illustrated by diverse women and
nonbinary people when you go to the library or bookstore. If you can’t find
what you’re looking for, or need a recommendation, ask the librarian or
bookseller. Maybe you’ll introduce them to an author and/or illustrator they
hadn’t discovered yet.
* If you do book reviews, or book giveaways, include books by diverse women and nonbinary people.
* Read and recommend books with diverse girls
and nonbinary characters, especially if their authors and/or illustrators are diverse
women or nonbinary too.
This might seem like a lot to do, but the good
thing is that you don’t have to do it all. Start small, by adding books by
diverse women and nonbinary people to what you are already doing. If you have
time, do one more thing. If you aren’t doing anything yet, start small. Talk
about the books by diverse women and nonbinary people that you’re reading and
loving. You can review them if you want, or just post or tweet that you loved
the book. If you have time, post the picture of the cover to go along with your
tweet. Or you can start a list on Twitter of your favorite diverse women and
nonbinary illustrators of children’s books. Or make one for writers, or author/illustrators,
or all three. You don’t have to do it all at once (that would be a daunting
task). You can add names when you find them. And then if people are looking for
illustrators, or writers, or author/illustrators, you’ll have a list to point
them to.
If we all continue to celebrate and include women and
nonbinary people who create books when we’re reading, talking, reviewing, and
recommending books, hopefully the gender balance in kidlit of who is getting
promoted, recognized, and awarded will be more equal to who is creating the
books.
Any other ideas for continuing this after the month ends, or
anything I forgot? If so, please leave a note in the comments!
This post is part of celebrating Women’s History month with 31 days of posts focused on improving the climate for social and gender equality in the children’s and teens’ literature community. Join in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtags #KidlitWomen, #WomenInIllustration, and #KidlitEquality, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kidlitwomen.
