There is change happening in the way people are portrayed in children’s books as publishers realise better representation is good for business.
Books are products, after all, and fortunately businesses are realising that representation in children’s books makes good business sense. The inclusive representation of all voices will hopefully continue becoming ‘normal’, but no one should get complacent. Change is happening, albeit slowly.
For us to sell to the rest of the world from wherever we are, means being prepared to bring the world’s stories into our territories in return. Acknowledging how similar people are, more than how different, in other words aiming for better representation, can lead to business opportunities in more terr. It also makes the differences more interesting when we are treating everyone the same. A reader is a reader after all.
The National Literacy Trust (UK) defines reading for pleasure as:
Reading we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction we will get from the act of reading.
But less people are reading these days, unless they are after specific information. Some people blame screens and devices for this change, forgetting that books can also be read on them. The answer is perhaps not so simple. Devices are a factor in the decline of reading for pleasure, along with the prices of books, less libraries, and the lack of a variety of stories for hungry minds.
In classrooms, and students from different places often sit next to each other exchanging experiences, becoming friends, inviting each other to their homes. Children and young people don’t see the ‘other’ as much as their parents or grandparents might. They have largely embraced their differences and want to see a world that reflects that. Can publishers meet these expectations? Can they help to boost reading for pleasure in a meaningful way by offering a larger variety of books? Can they find a new balance between theh necessity of making money and the risk of experimenting with new stories?
Making more children proud readers includes making it possible for them and their friends to see themselves in the stories they read. This involves checking that we in publishing are not slowing down our efforts or becoming complacent. It also means keeping up with the stories children want and bringing in new talent into publishing in an effective way. Given the cautious nature of children’s book manufacturing and publishing, these tasks can’t happen overnight.
The terms we use in business have to evolve too. The words ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ have come to mean niche and low sales, far from their true meaning. They are not seen as aspirational as the concepts deserve. So let’s take them out of the business vocabulary, and relegate them to being part of the description of plans and proposal rather than the headlines.
‘Representation’, and ‘belonging’, these are words publishers can work with. They are broad enough to cover all aspects of the business, and specific enough to apply to the newer generations of readers. Furthermore, they are goals and skills that all professionals are trained to achieve. Why should it be easier to make dragons and aliens more relatable than real people from a different background? Why not use the same principles of storytelling to make this happen?
It takes the whole publishing sector to bring about change, not just the creative side. If comppanies decide to change then they will have to acept that every part of their business might have to adjust. It is worth pausing every now and then to look at the big picture to see how much change has already occurred. Better representation is good business.