I have been sharing titles for Reading Across the Diverse Regions of America for several years now.
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.
Then in 2022 I updated the title selection to ensure each had a copyright-compliant read aloud video available for a reading road trip.
For 2023, because finding enough videos that didn’t violate copyright was getting difficult, I decided to just recommend titles for people to find at their school or public libraries for the week. I also added a selection of titles for a Nationwide category in addition to the five regions. You can find that curated selection on Titlewave® also.
And now, for 2024, I wasn’t even sure I was going to do a new set since I wasn’t sure I’d read enough titles to fit each region, but with a little bit of last minute help from members of the #ClassroomBookADay group on Facebook, I was able to get to 5 titles for each of the 5 regions + nationwide, so we have a new list for March 4th-8th!
I’m sharing them in a slideshow embedded in this post, but you can also view it in Google Slides. This year’s slideshow encompasses all of the covers of the books I’ve recommended over the years all in one place.
READ ACROSS the Diverse Regions of AMERICA
2024 Edition
If you prefer an editable copy of this slideshow for yourself,
it is available on my ko-fi shop page.
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, but it is important context to understand why there is a focus on diversity of stories and representations in these lists.
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 below.*
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)
