USA Today utilized data from UW–Madison’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) in a recent article that is headlined, “What is the ‘best’ children’s book? Kids, parents and authors on why some rise to the top.”
The article cites 2022 data from the CCBC’s Diversity Statistics, updated annually, showing that 40 percent of books published that year that were received by the CCBC were by authors of color.
In April the CCBC released data on the 3,491 books for children and teens it received that were published in 2023, and this statistic remained nearly identical.
The CCBC is a unique examination, study, and research library housed in the School of Education. The CCBC is also funded by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction through the Division for Libraries and Technology.
To learn more about what makes the “best” children’s books according to parents, booksellers, authors, and kids, check out the full USA Today article.