‘We Need to Normalize the Black Family Again:’ Author Hopes to Reinforce Traditional Families with New Children’s Book

Hasani Malone:

Many kids are given the gift of exploring new worlds through storytelling. Many parents join in on the nighttime ritual of reading to their children before they go to bed, and these books often provide important life lessons from characters that the children can relate to.

But representation of kids of color in children’s books is often hard to find. According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, in 2012 of the 3,600 books reviewed by the CCBC, over 93 percent of children’s books were written about white children. As of 2016, 73.3 percent of children’s books were primarily about white children, while 12.5 percent featured non-humans and animals.

While children’s books are getting more diverse over the years, the truth is they’re still disproportionately white. But Geiszel Godoy — alongside her husband, Manuel Godoy, a veteran children’s book author of the “Kids 2 Kings” series, which follows four royal children with superpowers — hopes to add her name to that slow-growing list of writers of children’s books that feature characters of color.