Weekly Roundup: May 5 - May 11, 2013

• The Gender Coverup at the HuffPost

• YA Books Need to Reflect Our Diverse Society at The Telegraph

• Fredrick McKissack, Half of Award-Winning Writing Team, Dies at 73  at SLJ

•  Judging Covers at CBC Diversity

Read What 6th Graders Think of Books and Marketing in a Chain Store

We've been following a series about a group of 6th grade students in NYC that studied book covers and various diversity issues including race and gender. As a part of their study, the students visited a big local bookstore chain (that remains nameless) and commented on what they saw. Among the insightful thoughts the 6th graders shared are these:

“I think that once the people who buy books realize that boys can bake and girls can fight dragons, authors will start making more books like that.”

“In the chapter book section, I saw that most of the books that had non-Caucasian characters didn’t have that character on the cover.”

“On the covers, I saw thin, pretty girls. I didn’t see any overweight girls or anyone with acne. I think that these covers shape an idea of perfect in a girls mind, and makes them want to be like that, even though everyone was born perfect.”

“I was disgusted that the authors didn’t seem to realize that not every girl is having problems that she needs her boyfriend to solve.”

We're really impressed with what these students observed, as well as their thoughtful responses, which highlight the importance of educating children about diversity issues.  Click here to read more about what these intelligent 6th graders had to say. All quotes and pictures come from the site.

Article on Gender and Picture Books at A Fuse #8 Production

At the SLJ blog A Fuse #8 Production, Elizabeth Bird has posted an article entitled "Are There Any Girl Bears?": Gender and the 21st Century Picture Book. In the article, Bird examines the picture book 100 Animals on Parade by Masayuki Sebe, specifically noting the spread that asks readers if there are any girl bears. She sites the fact that the author/illustrator is pointing readers to gender markers such as bows and eyelashes and that identifying girls in such a superficial way limits girls. She also uses the example of Legos and their current strategy to color Legos marketed to girls pink and lavender--a far cry from their 1980s gender neutral marketing, seen below:

Read What 6th Graders Think of Gender Marketing on Book Covers

We recently posted a link to a study a class of NYC 6th graders did on book covers and their thoughts on whitewashing. Part II of their study has been posted and you can read what the same 6th graders thought of book covers and gender marketing. We have not yet delved into the wonderful world of gender marketing and stereotyping in books and on book covers on this blog, but rest assured, we will in the future. In the meantime, take you can take a look at what the students--who surmised that, "Some books are marketed specifically to girls and some are marketed specifically to boys" (only too true)--observed about gender stereotyping and representations on book covers.

Read What 6th Graders Think About Whitewashing Book Covers

Last fall, a class of 6th graders in New York City began a study of book covers.  Apparently, it began as an examination of race and book covers, but expanded to consider various other aspects of diversity.

Here is a taste of the students' thoughts regarding whitewashing and the obscuring of characters of color on covers:

All the Colors of the Rainbow: 2012 YA Book Covers That Display Racial Diversity

As a follow-up to the last post, we thought something positive was in order. So, here are all the YA covers from 2012 we could find that prominently feature POC. Enjoy and be encouraged--things are changing, even if it is not as quickly as we might hope.