The CCBC is housed within the UW–Madison School of Education. It publishes an annual report tracking the number of children’s books by and about people of color and from First/Native Nations. The center started tracking these numbers in 1985, documenting them in their annual best books listing, “CCBC Choices” publication. Today, the CCBC also maintains a web page devoted to multicultural literature, including lists of recommended titles by age group.

According to The Guardian, the U.S. has seen seismic shifts in children’s publishing. Over the last 10 years, the number of kids’ books featuring African-American characters has more than doubled, and the number featuring Asians more than tripled.

Figures from the CCBC show that the number of children’s books featuring African or African-American characters rose form 172 out of a total of 3,000 books received by the CCBC in 2008, to 401 out of a total of 3,617 in 2018. An increase has also been seen in the number of books by African or African-American authors, rising from 83 in 2008 to 202 in 2018.

A substantial increase was also recorded for children’s books received by CCBC that were by and about Asians or Asian-Americans, about Latinx characters, and by and about American Indian and First Nation authors.

Although some are optimistic about these increased numbers, ​Horning is a little more cautious. She tells The Guardian that if she’s being optimistic, there does seem to be some genuine change that can be traced to national discussions in 2014.

However, she warns that there was also beginnings of what seemed to be genuine change in the late 1960s and 1980s that stopped. Horning tells The Guardian that it’s hard to identify real change just looking at one year, and that it’ll take another five or 10 years to answer that question.

Horning also notes that it’s not just a need for diverse books, but authentic and accurate diverse books. She tells The Guardian that children’s book should reflect the reality of the increasingly diverse population in the U.S. and that all children deserve to see themselves in books.

Read the entire Guardian article here.