Virtual Event: Putting Books to Work

Please note that this event will NOT be recorded.

We often hear that “diverse” books just don’t circulate, that kids don’t gravitate towards them. If we take this as true, how do we change that? Grace shows ways you can encourage kids to pick up a book that might not be an obvious mirror and open the door for reading diversely. Using her experiences as a child, a mother and an author as examples, Grace talks and discusses ways that we can use books as tools to integrate diversity into our kids’ lives.

Before Grace Lin was an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author/illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels, she was the only Asian girl (except for her sisters) going to her elementary school in Upstate NY. That experience, good and bad, has influenced her books—including her Newbery Honor, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; her Theodore Geisel Honor, Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same; her National Book Finalist, When the Sea Turned to Silver; and her Caldecott Honor, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. But, it also causes Grace to persevere for diversity as an occasional New England Public Radio commentator and when she gave her TEDx talk “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf,” as well as her PBS News Hour video essay “What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist?.” She continued this mission with a hundred episodes of the podcast kidlit women* and now currently hosts two other podcasts: Book Friends Forever and Kids Ask Authors. In 2016, Grace’s art was displayed at the White House and Grace, herself, was recognized by President Obama’s office as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling.

This event is made possible by Foundation for MetroWest.