The Display

Children’s Picturebooks at Indigo, Innes

This book display comes from the Indigo on Innes, Orleans. Indigo, Innes has a section at the back that is dedicated to children's literature, featuring children's picture books and novels. The display was located in the Indigo Kids’ corner in the children’s picture books section for readers aged 3-5. Featuring popular children’s picture books from animated cartoons and classic television adaptations, we chose from a handful of popular children's picture books to examine the amount of diversity and representation exhibited from the characters and creators of the display.

The Selection Process

We wanted to explore how literature shapes readers from a young age by analysing children's picture books. We specifically chose the “Favourite Friends” as they are a collection of some of the most popular stories for children aged 3-5. A lot of thought went into our book choices. Our selection was not random, but we made sure that there were no biases when cataloguing. Furthermore, this would allow for more accurate findings from our analysis and discussions.

Goals!

We strived to learn as much as we could about cataloguing and also had a chance to reflect on diversity in our display. 

Stop, Drop, and REFLECT!

It's always best to hear all sides of the story, we must do the same when we discuss children's books. We never really stop to question books we read as children or how they have influenced us. Cataloguing the ethnicity, religion, and sexuality of the writers and characters depicted, encouraged us to consider the presence and importance of diversity in books. As we discussed in class, it is crucial for children to see and read about characters that represent them.

"Diversity in children’s literature is important for children who identify with different communities because it helps children learn about themselves and feel like they have a valid place in the world. Without it, they may feel invisible or inferior to those we more frequently see books written about" (Runge).

The use of Windows and Mirrors is a great way to teach children to embrace themselves and be open-minded about others’ identities. Having diverse books is essential in a child’s development and even shapes the way they see the world. With the books chosen in our display, there is not much diversity. However, if we dig deeper, there is more than meets the eye… Check What We Found to learn more!

The image of the display below is interactive! Hover over the buttons to see the name of the book; click the buttons to see the book's cataloguing information.

Books that are labeled with a red button are children's picture books that feature non-human characters. Books that are labeled with a blue button are children's books that feature human characters. As you can see, there are many children's picture books that feature at least one non-human character. Use the buttons to view more!