A coalition of libraries, community groups, and children’s book creators in Rhode Island have responded to the spate of book bans around the country by creating a festival celebrating diverse children’s books and featuring two Newbery Honor authors. It will give local families a way to engage with diverse books, but also offers a model for other communities.
We Are ALL Readers, April 4th to 9th, will include events at schools and libraries across southern Rhode Island, including StoryWalks (outdoor installations of picture book pages along a walking path), youth writing workshops, and free (virtual) author visits. The festival will culminate in a celebration on April 9th at North Kingstown High School. Last fall, the school was the site of an attempted ban on Maia Kobabe’s award-winning memoir Gender Queer (Bookshop; Amazon)
Kyle Lukoff and Rajani LaRocca, whose books won Newbery Honors this year, will take the stage at the festival’s final celebration. Lukoff’s Too Bright to See (Bookshop; Amazon) is a haunting ghost story about navigating grief, growing up, and growing into a new gender identity. In addition to the Newbery, the book has won the Stonewall Award and was a National Book Award Finalist. (My review here.) LaRocca’s Red, White, and Whole (Bookshop; Amazon) is a heartbreakingly hopeful novel in verse about an Indian American girl whose life is turned upside down when her mother is diagnosed with leukemia.
The final day of the festival will include a total of nine award-winning children’s authors doing talks, storytimes, and book signings. There will also be hands-on art and writing activities, and independent bookstore Wakefield Books will provide a pop-up bookstore. Books and creators who are part of the event represent a wide range of American life experiences. Children and families from around Rhode Island are invited to attend.
“We wanted to create a response to book challenges/bans that celebrates diversity and showcase these books and authors.” said Lee-Ann Galli, young adult/teen librarian at North Kingstown Free Library, the town’s public library. “We are ALL readers and we celebrate each other.”
“Representation matters,” said Jennifer Lima, co-president of Towards an Antiracist North Kingstown. “What better way to support that, and provide some positive energy around the negativity, than with a weeklong festival of diverse children’s literature?”
Local author/illustrator Gaia Cornwall said, “Kids seeing themselves in a book is so affirming. It means your community sees you. You matter and you belong.”
“People need to see themselves in books but also need to see people who are different from them.” added Pam Rowland, library media specialist at North Kingstown High School. “With more familiarity we realize that we are all human beings—which is more important than any other smaller group we may belong to.”
For people in Rhode Island and neighboring states, these events will provide an opportunity to encounter new books, meet favorite (or new) authors, and maybe even inspire young people to become writers or illustrators themselves. For people elsewhere, this grassroots, collaborative, celebratory effort to counter bias and censorship may offer a model for hosting similar events in their communities.
We Are ALL Readers is a collaboration of Kingston Public Library, North Kingstown High School Library, North Kingstown Free Library, East Greenwich Free Library, Exeter Free Library, Rocky Hill Country Day School Library, West Warwick Library, Towards an Anti-Racist North Kingstown, and local authors and illustrators.
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