Through the window, the looking-glass and the fly-screen door: representations of a diverse world in Australian children’s picture books

Tamuz Ellazam

Children’s picture books are not just a teaching tool, a sleep-aid and a bonding exercise between children and their caregivers, they can also be the relay baton of readership, instilling a love of stories, words and reading from one generation to the next. As the world becomes more interconnected through communication and migration, the books we introduce our youngest readers to are fundamental in shaping their view of the world that they will grow up in, and their place within it. For publishers operating in trade, educational and niche segments of the industry, children’s picture books can be seen as an investment in both future markets for, and sources of, written and illustrated content. This research has been conducted to try to capture the current ratios of representation in children’s picture books published and distributed in Australia. Further inquiry has been done to establish what initiatives are currently in place to ensure that titles being published reflect the children that engage with them, and the world they live in.

‘Little books for little hands’

Picture books for children were popularised in the English-language publishing industry by John Locke, whose book Some thoughts concerning education posited that books featuring both words and pictures were an effective tool for caregivers to impart values and knowledge. Children’s publishing shifted away from a carer-centric model during the Victorian era, focusing on the pleasure, engagement and interaction of children with ‘little books for little hands’ as coined by the quintessential children’s author Beatrix Potter. In 1990, Dr Rudine Sims Bishop coined the phrase ‘windows, mirrors and sliding doors’ to communicate the importance of children’s picture books as a lens through children see the diverse lived experiences of others, a representation of their own reality, and as an exercise through which they can imaginatively inhabit another’s lived experience and develop empathy. Today, picture books maintain their appeal to educators, parents and caregivers as tools to discuss complex issues, values and morals. As these change over time, so too do the contents of the books intended to communicate them, which make children’s picture books a useful lens through which to view changes in the priorities of educators, caregivers, publishers and creators.

The data of representation in Australia

Australian children’s picture books have a history of introducing children to important social issues like environmentalism as far back as 1899’s Dot the Kangaroo. Unlike America, where organisations like the Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) have been tracking representation in children’s books since 1965 and 1985 respectively, Australia has fewer, newer and less-resourced databases. The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL) has a Cultural Diversity Database of 405 titles and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Resource with 570 titles, but do not compare their findings against the total number of books assessed for this project, partly sourced by donations from publishers and partly sourced from the NCACL’s 53,000+ title collection. These databases cannot compete with the size of databases like the American Diverse BookFinder, who have catalogued 4,998 picture books since 2002, providing detailed data and trend analysis. To establish whether the relatively small size and scale of these resources was due to a lack of existing titles or limited resources, this research conducted new data collection to establish the current rate of representation in picture books available for Australian children and tracked the time investment required. The quantitative research was conducted over approximately 15 hours and included 400 titles, of which 61% were available for tracking, although the NCACL may have access to a higher percentage of titles. Of the titles analysed, 61% featured representation in some form. This ratio suggests that with more investment tools like the NCACL’s databases could be expanded to provide a more comprehensive resource. Tracking of sales of titles could reveal how titles with a focus on representation perform compared to other titles prior to inclusion in the database and if inclusion in such lists increases sales, but this data is not currently available.

Aims and methodology

This research was designed to establish the current range and ratio of representation in the content of children’s picture books published and distributed in Australia to identify gaps and suggest potential initiatives for increasing access for children to works that reflect themselves and their world. Representation in this research refers to: racial, religious, cultural, national, linguistic, economic, sexual orientation, gender identity and depictions of disability both physical and otherwise. To collect data that presented a broad cross-section of titles currently available, three publishers with different markets were chosen. Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing and Scholastic Australia represented traditional trade and educational publishing respectively, and Magabala Books acted as an example of publishing specifically produced with representation in mind—although, their mission is focused on the support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators and does not dictate what content their creators produce (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023). Titles published and distributed by these publishers that were not single books were not included in the data, therefore excluding: box or gift sets, storage, stationary, flash cards, gift vouchers, activity-, sticker- and colouring books. The data was collected using a synthesis of frameworks from the CCBC, CIBC and NCACL, and compared to current demographics from the 2021 and 2018 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) censuses, and are supplemented with data from Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census, as suggested by the ABS, due to the 2021 data on gender identity not being deemed statistically sound.

Data collected for this research tracked both implicit and explicit representation. To be included as explicit representation, this data followed logic set out by the CCBC and CIBC, which suggest that if a child is to recognise themselves in a narrative, that book must make the representation characteristic central and clear. Another existing metric from these American databases led this research to not assume that a character is not Anglo-Saxon by the colour of their skin alone. Other markers such as dress or language that specifies the culture or nationality of origin had to be present for a character to be deemed explicit representation. Depictions of traditional stories and diverse factual or historical stories without a main character were considered explicitly diverse, where use of languages other than English in the communication of educational content were considered implicitly diverse, if they refer to a diverse world, but not a main character representing a specific culture or nationality.

Authors, access and the ‘read aloud’

In recent years, the publishing industry has come to recognise the need for authors and illustrators who can present authentic representations of diverse lived experience and inspire the next generation. An author’s right to privacy makes including this important factor in this research impossible unless it is self-reported, which was not consistently available and therefore could not contribute to this research. Access to content in general was a significant limitation to this research, as only 61% of titles listed were available online either in part or in full. One unexpected finding was the number of titles that were available being read aloud on online resources like YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo. While it is not possible to determine if the books available as read aloud videos offer more diverse representation, 69% of Magabala Books titles were available, compared to the 41% from Scholastic and 58% from HGCP. Representation within these readers was significant, with a wide range of authors, educators and even children posting videos. There were also numerous representations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators reading, discussing and providing additional context to books featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation, many of which were produced by Deadly Kindies, an initiative of the Queensland Government Department of Education’s Institute for Urban Indigenous Health. While Blewitt et al. posit that reading by caregivers is significantly more beneficial to children’s development than digital reading, the addition of questions, additional context and other ‘scaffolding’ by online readers may have benefits. It could be suggested that this kind of increased accessibility provides greater exposure for these texts and could be an interesting subject for further research.

Cockatoos, not cats: carriers of culture

American children’s literature researchers, including the CCBC, consider non-human main characters as unspecific non-representations of diversity, and an inappropriate method for children to feel seen. Australia has a strong history of producing children’s books featuring our unique native flora as primary characters. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ storytelling, animals are often primary characters in creation stories and are ‘carriers of language and knowledge of culture’ (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023). For this reason, this research marked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander–coded animal characters as cultural representation, and religious representation if they were retelling an existing narrative from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island Peoples’ Dreaming or traditional stories. All other main characters were required to be human rather than animal, inanimate (toys) or magical/mythological to be admissible as explicitly diverse.

Case study: Magabala Books

Magabala Books is an ‘independent, not-for-profit Indigenous Corporation’, publishing since 1987 with the mission of developing, advocating for and investing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and illustrators. They run fellowships, scholarships, grants, awards and a range of cultural projects to support development in the industry for artists and authors, recording stories from elders in the community, and collaborations with schools. Dr Arlie Alizzi, an editor at Magabala Books, says that as a publisher that focuses on representing creators, the content of their titles is decided by the artists and writers, ‘to give space to Aboriginal creators to speak whatever they want to write and support their stories’ (personal communication, 3 May 2023). This research did find multiple examples of creators from Magabala Books going on to success with other publishing houses, which Dr Alizzi says is by design. ‘We continue to support them in their careers when they choose to publish elsewhere’ (personal communication, 6 September 2023). The research also suggests that these authors may have more confidence to tell Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories at a publisher where they are supported to do so, as their titles with other publishers show much higher rates of implicit representation rather than explicit. ‘They'll often have interesting stories about what kinds of content they are asked to produce by other publishing houses as well. So, they might be asked questions like, "can you put a dark-skinned character in your book? Because we need more of that" for example.’ (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023).

Coupled with Dr Alizzi’s concerns about editorial racism and tokenism in the wider publishing industry, he also referred to time, energy and financial support as a significant barrier to entry for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators. ‘There's extra cultural load and mental load on Aboriginal [and Torres Strait Islander] creators… …they want to get it to where they can feel supported to actually put it out into the world and go through that extreme experience of being exposed to the public’ (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023). Advocating for authors has always been part of the mission of Magabala Books, to ‘advocate for and educate the community on copyright, and cultural, intellectual property’ so that creators are protected (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023). Magabala Books is committed to go beyond the standard cycle of receiving submissions, instead choosing to work with creators from even just the ‘small seed of an idea’, which Dr Alizzi says is central to the success of those titles. By subverting the ‘value systems through which manuscripts are assessed and processed by a publishing house’ and cherishing the creator and their idea as the most valuable component, Magabala Books see beyond colonial constructions of ‘professionalism and qualification’ to ‘actually meet them where they are, and develop the book with them’ (Dr Alizzi, personal communication, 3 May 2023). Magabala Books has proven that support, advocacy and mentorship results in titles with representation, titles that can truly serve as windows, mirrors and sliding doors for all Australian children. Existing research in the field posits that for work to speak to children, whether it helps them to recognise themselves, or be prepared to meet the world around them, it must be authentic. Magabala Books serves as an authority in the Australian publishing industry on how to support a creator’s authentic perspective to survive the editorial process, resulting in content with genuine and explicit representation.

Case study: Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing and Bright Light

Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP), a division of the largest independent publisher in Australia, launched their Bright Light imprint in late 2020. Publishing Director Marisa Pintado explained that Bright Light was designed to ‘improve discoverability for readers’ within HGCP’s existing range of titles dealing with ‘important conversations’ (personal communication, 3 May 2023). With six core categories for the annual commissioning of 20 titles, Bright Light presents titles on Character, First Nations, Diversity, Environment, Bodies and Gender. There is also the concern that diversity imprints remove the responsibility for publishers to increase the range of their broader offering. Bright Light has however, potentially contributed to the increased rate of diverse publishing at HGCP; although there is only one year of post-Bright Light data currently available (16 titles), Figure 1 clearly shows a significantly increased rate of implicit representation.

Figure 1: Representation at HGCP before and after the launch of the Bright Light imprint initiative.

One finding from this research was that many of the Bright Light titles in HGCP’s shop did not feature a main character. While ensembles of characters do increase representation, there is some concern that these titles do not provide a window, mirror or sliding door into any unique lived experience. Although determining the lived experience of every creator is not possible, this research did see a trend in specific and explicit representation coming from authors and illustrators with that lived experience. HGCP and Bright Light demonstrate the Australian publishing industry’s commitment to increased representation, providing titles with ‘A strong voice and command of storytelling oriented firmly towards the child reader, but with a nod to the adult sitting alongside them’ (Pintado, personal communication, 3 May 2023). The data shows that Bright Light has contributed to a broader range of titles, however, the lack of consistency across the industry suggests that the potential for support from publishers to a central body, like the NCACL may provide more consistent frameworks for improving representation in Australian children’s picture books.

Findings

This researched surveyed 400 titles, including 19 titles from Scholastic’s ‘0–3’ category, 97 titles from Magabala Books’ ‘Children’s Picture Books’, and 254 titles from Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing’s ‘0–2’ and ‘3–4’, of which 281 titles were available.

Figure 2: Representation categories and population data

As seen in Figure 2 the total percentage of representation for all categories except ‘Gender’ was significantly less than the census data of the total population. ‘Gender’ as an outlier is due to factors like the limited availability of data on the nonbinary and transgender population, the small sample size of titles and the framework used to determine what constituted diverse representation. Closer examination reveals just 3 titles that subvert gender norms, none of which features a transgender or nonbinary character. Of the 195 titles that were available for main character gender tracking, only 35% featured a female main character. Of titles featuring a gendered main character, 39% of HGCP featured a female main character, 29% from Magabala Books and 16% from Scholastic. The categories of ‘Disability: physical’, ‘Linguistic’ and ‘Religious’ representation must also be highlighted as areas where the ability to categorise these representations are hugely reliant on the unique combination of images and text present in picture books. Language other than English, a mobility aid and religious dress are all representations that can be presented in images and speech bubbles rather than the primary narrative text, which leaves less room for interpretation than other categories. While Figure 3 shows that ‘Cultural’ and ‘Racial’ representation are both present in all publishers, Figure 2 serves as a reminder that this movement towards broader representation still lags significantly behind Australia’s population.

Table 1: Instances of multiple representations

Of all titles tracked with implicit or explicit representation, only one title reflected 6 concurrent categories of representation. All Are Welcome has, tellingly, been the subject of calls for a book ban in America. Representation may open titles to a broader potential market but can also lead to backlash, and this research has not been able to determine if there is a net positive or negative effect on sales and access when controversy occurs. In America, organisations for free speech like PEN America list all books targeted across the country in schools and libraries, which may in fact increase sales and potentially even access to these books. While Australia does not have a history of banning children’s picture books, the increase in backlash towards drag story time does have the potential to also spotlight the content of the books chosen for these events, which tend to feature diverse representation.

Figure 3: Explicit and implicit representation by publisher and category

As seen in Figure 3, the data on representation in titles from HGCP, Magabala Books and Scholastic showed that ‘Cultural’ and ‘Racial’ representation are the most well- and widely depicted, only ‘Religious’ and ‘Disability: physical’ were also present in all publishers. ‘Disability: other’, ‘Gender’, Economic, Linguistic, National and Sexuality were all very inconsistently represented, with ‘Linguistic’ an outlier from Magabala Books due to their commitment to representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators. One title from Magabala Books also included a depiction of non-monogamy, which was classified as ‘Religious’ representation. Future research could also include categories for under-represented families, including blended families, families in polyamory frameworks, single parents, fostering, adoption and surrogacy.

Initiatives and further suggestions

As Australian children’s picture book publishers look to the future, representation should be a significant priority to ensure that titles published present the full spectrum of diverse and intersectional identities within the modern world. Support for authors and illustrators with diverse lived experience should extend beyond completed works to include support for development. A commitment to the preservation of authentic representation throughout the editorial process should be adopted industry-wide, so that authors and illustrators can have confidence that stories of cultural significance will be handled with respect and be legally protected. Publishers like Magabala Books already provide advocacy and education, and publishers wishing to improve the diversity of the representation in their titles must seek out, and pay for, the appropriate community input into the publishing process. Awards, scholarships, fellowships, conferences and grants contribute to representation, but require a combination of time, money and a capacity for paperwork that raise the barrier to entry above what many under-represented creators can afford. Further research and support for resources like the NCACL are also needed to examine a wider selection of Australian publishers and learn more from those that are succeeding in under-represented categories. Australians have strong emotional ties to classic titles like Possum Magic and Magic Beach that represent our unique landscape, animals and way of life. It is time that we invested that same enthusiasm and passion into ensuring that the next generation of readers, writers, illustrators and publishers are inspired by works that represent Australia’s people, in all their unique identities.

About the author

Tamuz Ellazam is a Jewish writer, editor and artist living on Wurundjeri country along the Kooyongkoot Creek, writing about vulnerability, queer joy and other big feelings. She's a bookseller, a freelance editor, a writer for the Star Observer and a (very amateur) weaver. In semester 1 of 2024 she will be completing her Master of Writing and Publishing at RMIT with a research project extending on the work presented here.