And among the experts CNN turns to in an effort to put this topic in perspective is UW–Madison’s Kathleen Horning, who heads the School of Education’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC).

The CNN report begins: “Marley Dias says she was tired of reading books about ‘white boys and their dogs’ in school. So at the age of 11, she launched the campaign #1000BlackGirlBooks to identify books featuring people of color as protagonists.”

The report adds: “Over the past three years, Dias has collected more than 11,000 books. She is in the process of donating all the books and has given more than half to what she describes as ‘predominantly black and underserved’ communities in the U.S., Haiti, Ghana, Jamaica and the UK. The young activist from New Jersey has even gone on to author her own book — ‘Marley Dias Gets It Done’ — and is currently developing an app so kids can find “black girl books” more easily.”

The CNN report goes on to explain how, despite the young writer’s best efforts, diversity is still lacking in children’s books.

Reports CNN: “Just 9 percent of children’s books published in the US in 2017 featured African or African American characters – according to data from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) which has been measuring representation in children’s books since 1985. While that figure appears small, it actually represents an improvement on previous years. In 2014, just 5 percent of children’s books recorded by the CCBC included African or African American characters.”

The CCBC documents these annual numbers in their annual best books listing, “CCBC Choices” publication. Today, the center housed within the School of Education also maintains a web page devoted to multicultural literature, including lists of recommended titles by age group.

The CCBC is a unique and vital gathering place for books, ideas and expertise in the field of children’s and young adult literature. The CCBC is a non-circulating examination, study and research library for Wisconsin school and public librarians, teachers, early childhood care providers, university students and others interested in children’s and young adult literature.

In the CNN report, Horning explains how many of the books about black experiences have not been written by authors from that demographic.

Notes CNN: “Africans and African Americans wrote or illustrated just 3 percent of the books counted by the CCBC in 2017. Horning says this statistic appears to depict how difficult it can be for black authors to break into the publishing industry. When children’s books about black people do get published, Horning says they often fall into three broad categories: books about slavery, books set during the civil rights movement and books that tell ‘gritty, contemporary’ stories about children growing up in struggling families or teens dealing with violence.”

“All of these are important stories, but young readers also want more variety,” Horning tells CNN. For example, there aren’t traditionally “many fantasies with African American characters, or books showing a middle-class black family.”

However, Horning adds she has seen flickers of change in 2018, highlighting fantasy book “Children of Blood and Bone” by Toni Adeyemi and “Pride” by Ibi Zoboi, a contemporary remix of “Pride and Prejudice,” featuring a Haitian-Dominican-American family.

To read more about Horning’s thoughts on these important topics, check out the entire report for free on this CNN web page.