Black Representation in Children's Books. ERIC-IRCD Urban Disadvantaged Series, Number 21.

The child entering nursery or elementary school is aware of his own race and of racial differences among other children and adults, is likely to have evaluated different races, has probably questioned his own skin color or that of others, and has possibly behaved prejudicially. Until very recently the question of race was ignored in children's literature; blacks have been virtually nonexistent as far as the publishing industry was concerned. Although publishers and editors contend that large numbers of books involving black people are available today, they do admit that the sales problem largely determines how many get published. Few people seem to question how many so-called integrated books actually exist: yet a search for fiction picture books involving black people located only 56 published between 1939 and 1971. Almost half portray black people only. Of those showing both black and white people, the illustrations in at least half of them make skin color indeterminable. With one or two exceptions, no book mentions race. Of the 56 as listed in the annotated bibliography included in this report, just four were published before 1950, only seven during the fifties, almost all the remainder during the sixties, together with seven 1970 books. (Author/JM)