Family Diversity in Children’s Literature
This blog post was researched and written by our Fall 2022 intern Peyton Jackson!
Families come in all different shapes,sizes, colors, and backgrounds. As adults, we know this and understand it well. However, children may believe that all families are just like theirs unless we show them otherwise. This is why adding diverse families to children’s literature is so important. Adding diversity to the media children intake can help them feel seen and also help with empathy.
What we still see in most children’s literature is the nuclear family, a household that has two married parents, often a man and a woman, usually with multiple children. This is still a common family type, but there are so many others that should be just as much of a norm. For example, single-parent families, blended families, adoption, and extended families are all important for children to understand, learn about, and accept as normal.
Single parents families are households headed by only one parent, either a mother or father, with one or multiple children. These parents are in charge of providing for the whole family typically by themselves or with little help. This is a task that should be celebrated and admired, certainly not shamed by society. Reading books that include single-parent families can help children feel understood if they’re part of one, or unsurprised and empathetic when they come across one.
Books to read:
You Are My Wish Come True - Marianne Richmond
Was It the Chocolate Pudding? - Sandra Levins and Bryan Langdo
The Invisible String - Patrice Karst
Blended families, sometimes known as step families, include couples that have remarried and brought two separate families together. Children of these families may struggle with having a new parental figure, and be confused by the new lifestyle. These children need to know that their struggle is normal, which is why it’s a great topic to write about.
Books to read:
Wicked Awesome Stepmother - Ashley-Nichole ( A G3B Publication!)
Do You Sing Twinkle? - Sandra Levins and Bryan Lando
When Otis Courted Mama - Kathi Appelt
Adoption brings a different type of family dynamic. Children being raised by parents who are not their birth parents may have a different family dynamic than those who are. Including adoption in literature helps not only those children, but can explain what adoption is to others and help them be more empathetic and understanding to other children who have been adopted.
Books to read:
Stellaluna - Janell Cannon
Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born - Jamie Lee Curtis
The Best Family in the World - Susana Lopez
Some children are raised by their extended family. Grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, or even distant cousins. This could happen for many different reasons and their parents might also participate in helping to raise the children when they are able or they might not. Either way, this can be different from the way many other children are brought up and may cause confusion. Adding this type of family helps normalize it, lessening the confusion.
Books to read:
Sometimes It’s Grandmas and Grandpas: Not Mommies and Daddies - Gayle Byrne
The Grandma Book - Todd Parr
Joone - Emily Kate Moon
Racial diversity in families is also something that is incredibly common. Mixed race children may be confused by the difference between their parents, and what that means for them. Children who do not come from a racially diverse family may also become confused by this. We must show through literature that you are a mix of your parents, no matter who they are or what they look like.
Books to read:
Little Dumplings - Jekka and Krissy Kuhlmann
Just Like Me - Vanessa Brantley-Newton
I am Whole - Shola Oz
Lastly, there is a less common topic that should still be touched on in children’s literature. Disability in the family. This could cover parents or even a sibling. It’s important for all children to understand what disabled means and how to treat someone with a disability. But children that have a disability in the family deal with this much closer than those who don’t. They deserve to see their normal in books, too.
Books to read:
I'll Walk With You - Carol Lynn Pearson
Different: A Great Thing to Be - Heather Avis
Mama Zooms - Jane Cowen-Fletcher
As you can see, by including diverse children’s literature into our children’s lives, it can help them to become well rounded individuals and prepare them to be empathic to the friends they will make throughout their lives. Teach them about the different kinds of families, and that as long as a child is loved and cared for it doesn’t matter who is taking care of them. This knowledge may make them a little kinder, and even a little more grateful for their family, no matter what kind it is.