I know a lot of educators have used the Read Across the Diverse Regions of America slides I’ve shared the last two years with video links, but it is getting more difficult to find read aloud videos that honor copyright laws and fit the parameters of regions and diversity I am looking for. So, for 2023, I am recommending titles for you to acquire that are set in specific regions across the United States. You can find more of my curated selection on Titlewave®!
READ ACROSS the Diverse Regions of AMERICA
2023 Edition
In choosing the titles for this year’s lists, I decided not to include titles that I previously used for my read aloud slides. You can still find those titles in Titlewave®, and on the 2022 slides below!
You can shop these lists & others to support independent bookstores + my work at my Bookshop page!
Because we cannot let nostalgia guide our decisions. Because we cannot allow racist or stereotyped imagery to be part of what we promote through our read aloud choices. Because we cannot refuse to move on from the past and bypass our responsibility to represent the entirety of what America is about today.
I originally shared some of the information that follows in my 2021 post for Read Across America Day. Slides with embedded links to read alouds were updated in 2022.
Several years ago NEA changed the focus of Read Across America away from Dr. Seuss and to “Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers” – moving away from a singular focus on, and raising up of, one white male author who has a history of racist imagery* and toward a year-long celebration of the diversity that makes our country what it is. Yet many schools still cling to the tradition without using a critical lens to consider what message the year after year celebration of just one author sends to students. Dr. Seuss can be both a beloved author AND ALSO problematic. So it’s time to move away from a day and week celebrating Seuss and into a focus on inclusive choices that more kids can relate to and showcase our nation as a diverse society.
*If you’re unaware of the issues with Dr. Seuss, see the links at the bottom of this post that provide helpful context.*
To help in efforts to have a more diverse & inclusive focus for students, in 2020 I shared a list of 50 inclusive picture book read aloud alternatives.
In 2021, I selected 5 titles for each of the 5 regions of the United States (Northeast, Southeast, South, West, Midwest) you could use to truly represent and Read Across the Regions of America. In 2022 I updated the title selection to ensure each had a copyright-compliant read aloud video available.
2022 Slides with Read Aloud Videos
You can also access the Google slideshow using this link. You can then save as a shortcut to your Drive.
It is not open for making a copy to protect the integrity of the work & ensure you will see any changes.
If you’re trying to share with students and getting blocked by enterprise Google settings, try using this published to the web version for sharing.
If you are looking for alternatives to traditional purposes for Dr. Seuss books, this post from Teach for the Change on Instagram is a good starting point.
*If you’re unaware of the issues with Dr. Seuss, these links will provide helpful context:
The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, Anti-Blackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’s Children’s Books
Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books (School Library Journal)
Thread from The Conscious Kid in the #DisruptTexts slow chat
New Study Published on Racism and Dr. Seuss (School Library Journal)
