Children's Book Press

From Lorraine García-Nakata
Publisher & Executive Director

All children’s books are created equal…right?

An overwhelming number of studies point to the importance of the early reading experience, which can greatly increase a child’s future success in school and provides significant intellectual, economic, and social advantages. It fosters cultural literacy, passing on community values, history, and traditions, while encouraging fortitude and diversity, teamwork and independence.

The dilemma is this: how do you inspire a child to read when that child’s world simply does not exist in the books she or he reads? Of the 5,000 children’s books published in the United States in 2006, less than 10% featured children from communities of color. And this percentage is for all communities of color combined. Even worse, only 4% of these 5,000 books were written from a first voice perspective, one in which the author is from the community about which they are writing.

Happily, there is a nonprofit organization—Children’s Book Press—working to change things.

Children’s Book Press publishes award-winning, bilingual, first voice children’s books from the Latino, African American, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and multiracial communities. These books are written and illustrated by writers and artists from the communities featured in our books. This ensures not only that these communities are authentically represented in children’s literature, but also that they are not misrepresented. These unique books provide a vehicle through which diverse communities can speak directly—and creatively—to young readers.

We cannot do this work without your support. It has been a difficult time for publishers, in particular for smaller nonprofit independent presses like Children’s Book Press. Your tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more will ensure that children will continue to see themselves reflected in their first reading experiences. We are counting on you. Click on this link and give to what matters!

G I V E N O W

Yours gratefully,

Lorraine García-Nakata
Publisher & Executive Director