Democracy is on all of our minds. And well it should be; this is a pivotal year for our country and our people.
Educator and author Donalyn Miller presents the case that because literacy is so important, it has been and is currently used as a weapon of discrimination and a strategy to maintain power.
Creators, our books for children are the perfect instruments to combat this.
I invite you to read Donalyn’s essay in SLJ and reflect on the ways your efforts and projects are positively impacting literacy development in children.
She offers a list of books as resources for educators. I’ve added a Michigan SCBWI member’s book, Equality’s Call authored by Deborah Diesen (yes, that Deborah Diesen author of the NYTimes bestselling Pout-Pout Fish series). Do you have books to add? Put them in the comments and I’ll expand the list.
Literacy = the ability to participate in democracy. That’s big, folks.
Books About Voting, Elections, and US Government
- Drawing the Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Voting in America by Tommy Jenkins, illustrated by Kati Lacker (Abrams ComicArts)
- Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Graphic Novel by Cynthia and Sanford Levinson, illustrated by Ally Shwed (First Second, September 2020)
- Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote by Veronica Chambers and the Staff of the New York Times (Versify, August 2020)
- History Smashers!: Women’s Right to Vote by Kate Messner, illustrated by Dylan Meconis (Random House, July 2020)
- How Women Won the Right to Vote: Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, illustrated by Ziyue Chen (HarperCollins)
- I Voted! Making a Choice Means Making a Difference by Mark Shulman, illustrated by Serge Bloch (Neal Porter Books)
- Lifting As We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne (Viking Books for Young Readers)
- One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally (YA Edition) by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden (Bloomsbury YA)
- Sbe Was the First! The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Lee & Low, August 2020)
- Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African-American Voting Rights by Lawrence Goldstone (Scholastic)
- The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert (Disney-Hyperion, July 2020)
- V Is for Voting by Kate Farrell, illustrated by Caitlin Kuhwald (Henry Holt & Co., July 2020)
- Vote for Our Future! (Schwartz & Wade)
- Added by Carrie:
Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America By Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Magdalena Mora (Beach Lane Books, February 18, 2020)
