I was asked in a #ClassroomBookADay 101 session to recommend author / illustrator studies that would provide more inclusive representation than what is often seen in schools. Requests for ideas for such studies frequently appear in librarian groups on Facebook, and the names that come up most often are straight, cis, white authors and illustrators. As librarians and educators, we need to take the lead on pushing for more inclusive representation so that kids of all backgrounds, identities, and communities get the chance to see the global majority not only in, but also behind the pages of, the books we share.
I did some brainstorming, some crowdsourcing, and some searching through my Goodreads shelves to come up with these 79(!!) names, which I hope will provide MORE than enough options to find what you might need.
In order to cover a weeklong study, I limited my picks to authors and illustrators who have published at least five picture books. There are some whose fifth work may appear in a compilation book, but I included them anyway because their body of work is strong (and some weeks we only have four days). Who makes these rules?! It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me. LOL! In addition, for some significantly underrepresented identities (like Arab creators), I used a 3 book criteria due to the fact that they often have a more difficult time even getting to publish traditionally in the first place.
The beauty of using author/illustrator studies is that it provides students with the chance to not only enjoy great stories, but to also go deeper into analyzing craft, both visual and written, and to identify important themes and characteristics through compare/contrast methods. These types of analysis skills integrate wonderfully into the larger benefits of #ClassroomBookADay and literacy standards.
You can find a few of the titles I recommend most highly
from some of my favorites on the list (bolded below) on Titlewave®.
Here are an additional 18 favorites for author/illustrator studies who don’t fit the inclusive representation parameters, but would be fabulous options if you’re looking to update your selections to feature more recently published picture books!
Cale Atkinson
Chris Barton
Mike Boldt
Ame Dyckman
Deborah Freedman
Josh Funk
Hannah E. Harrison
Ryan T. Higgins
Molly Idle
Steve Jenkins
Corinna Luyken (check out the SEL Educator Guide I created for her books!)
Gianna Marino
Kate Messner
Pat Zietlow Miller
Dev Petty
April Pulley Sayre
Melissa Stewart
Bethan Woollvin
Full List of 79 Creators for Inclusive Author/Illustrator Studies
Jacqueline Alcantara
Hatem Aly
Ana Aranda
Derrick Barnes
Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Monica Brown
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Nidhi Chanani
Tami Charles
Elisa Chavarri
Jason Chin
Charlene Chua
Bryan Collier
Raúl Colón
Floyd Cooper
Mike Curato
Anika Aldamuy Denise
Angela Dominguez
Margarita Engle
Leo Espinosa
The Fan Brothers
Raissa Figueroa
Julie Flett
A.G. Ford
Ebony Glenn
Michaela Goade
Nikki Grimes
Rudy Gutierrez
Vashti Harrison
Ekua Holmes
Kaylani Juanita
Aya Khalil
Hena Khan
Jaime Kim
Rajani LaRocca
Minh Lê
Grace Lin
Carole Lindstrom
Rafael López
Kyle Lukoff
Kelly Starling Lyons
Juana Martinez-Neal
Erika Meza
Daniel Miyares
Magdalena Mora
Oge Mora
Yuyi Morales
Frank Morrison
Kadir Nelson
Lesléa Newman
Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Sara Palacios
Charly Palmer
John Parra
LeUyen Pham
Dow Phumiruk
Jerry Pinkney
James E. Ransome
Amber Ren
Christian Robinson
Isabel Roxas
Dan Santat
Kabir & Surishtha Sehgal
Jessie Sima
Monique Gray Smith
Nikkolas Smith
Traci Sorell
Don Tate
Theodore Taylor III
Raúl the Third
Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Duncan Tonatiuh
Christian Trimmer
Luisa Uribe
Eric Velasquez
Carole Boston Weatherford
Jacqueline Woodson
Katie Yamasaki
M.O. Yuksel
What do the Bolded names mean?
Those are the ones whose books are included on the Titlewave lists. 😊