![]() ![]() How refreshing, then, to come upon Pecan Pie Baby ( public library) by writer Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by the always excellent Sophie Blackall - the story of a little girl named Gia and her journey of coming to terms with the disorienting fact that she will soon be a big sister. And yet today, only 31 percent of children’s books feature female protagonists (even Jane Austen once told her niece that, in literature, “one does not care for girls until they are grown up”) and a gobsmacking 0.3 percent include characters of color. ![]() ![]() Half a century ago, Margaret Mead memorably asserted that exposing young children to people who differ from them is essential for teaching them to like or dislike others on the basis of personal character rather than because they belong to a category of people - in other words, for immunizing them against the poison of bigotry. ![]()
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