Missing Faces, Beautiful Places: The Lack of Diversity in South Carolina Picture Book Award Nominees

Abstract

Many South Carolina librarians purchase and display the books nominated annually for the South Carolina Picture Book Award. The purpose of this study was to examine the nominee lists for racial and ethnic representation and portrayal using Critical Race Theory and Rudine Sims Bishop's categories for African American children's literature. The results indicated that the lists fail to account for the diversity of South Carolina and the United States. Protagonists of color are rare, as are authors and illustrators of color. Overall, the lists offer children few examples of people of color as important members of contemporary American society.