Tips for Reading Antiracist Books with Young Children

By Rachel Wiegand

As the Black Lives Matter movement builds momentum, and protests sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbrey (and countless others) continue, many of us are trying to figure out how to talk to our children about racism.

In response to this need to converse and connect with the early learners in our lives, media outlets have published antiracist booklists aimed at parents and educators to get started. Here are some tips we recommend if you are looking to use children’s literature to talk to kids about race and racism. These strategies are geared towards children from pre-K to elementary school, so if you are sharing books with older readers stayed for future Station 2050 posts!

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4 Tips for Reading Antiracism Books with Kids

1. Access Prior Knowledge - A great place to start before a read-aloud is figuring out what your reader already knows about the topic you’re about to explore. Many children will be aware that something different is happening in our country, whether through overhearing a parent’s conversation with a friend or seeing a clip of the 6 o’clock news. It’s important to take a moment to explore what your child might already know about the protest and unrest regarding police brutality. These issues spark intense feelings, not just for adults but for kids as well. We need to be aware of the associations, misconceptions, and emotional responses our kids may experience before diving into a story about racism. Often times, our young readers are full of much more prior knowledge about a topic than we think! This prior knowledge can be used as a tool to frame a story and deepen conversation.

2. Read the pictures - Nearly all children’s books focusing on diversity and social justice incorporate these themes into their illustrations as well! Pictures can be an excellent tool for building understanding around race and racism for little ones. Invite your child to read the pictures as they would the text by asking them questions like...

   1. What do you see here? What do you notice? What’s happening in this picture? How does this character feel right now? How do you know?

   2. You could even take it a step further by asking--What does this picture make you wonder about? Generating questions while reading not only builds literacy skills but allows the child to guide the discussion of these critical topics.

3. Model Connections - In literacy instruction, there are typically 3 types of connections we model for our early readers: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world. Elementary readers are just learning to make these connections making modeling extra important. This happens as you are reading and after! Here are some sentence starters you might use while modeling connections

   1. Maya being teased at school reminds me of a time when…

   2. All the different people in Lena’s neighborhood reminds me of the story...

   3. Audrey Faye Hendricks marched just like people in our city are marching now to support people of color who are being hurt and treated unfairly

4. Remember the 3 cs: Clarify Confusion, Celebrate Curiosity, Keep the Conversation Going! Be ready to answer any questions or address any confusion your child may have while reading and celebrating their curiosity. This is a time of learning, listening, and building understanding for many of us.... and that applies to our young readers too!

   1. Provide positive praise when your child asks questions or expresses wondering. If your child asks a question and you are unsure how to respond, it’s okay to say, “Wow, that is a great question. You know, I’m not sure right now, but let me think about that.” Of course, in instances such as these, following up is critical. For more on building curiosity - stay tuned for a blog post on our “curiosity jar” ideas!

   2. Lastly, reading antiracist literature shouldn’t happen in isolation, and should be the start of an ongoing conversation. Stories are a reflection of lived experiences. We can use them as tools to navigate and draw meaning from what is happening in the world around us. If you see something that reminds you of a story you read, bring it to your child’s attention! Use it as a tool to keep that conversation going!

While these tips are a start, they are certainly not the only effective strategies out there. What strategies have you been using to read antiracism literature with your children? How have you been engaging with kids in these meaningful and challenging conversations?

(picture cred: Aaron Burden)