Diversity Roll Call: Children's Book Week

It's a good news/bad news kind of day for the C.O.R.A. Diversity Roll Call:

The good news: Some participants were concerned that a week doesn't leave them enough time to think through the questions and get a solid post up before the topic changes. So, from now on, you'll have two weeks between Roll Calls, which will be posted the first and third Fridays of every month.

The bad news: That means two fewer opportunities to be entered for the Mega Book Giveaway.

The good news: The Mega Book Giveaway!!! Click on the link for more details, but the basics are, for every Roll Call you participate in, you receive one entry in the drawing for books by Asian and Latino authors. (You can also receive additional entries for posting reviews of books by authors of color!)

The bad news: I'm supposed to be helping my husband with yard work instead of writing this post.

The good news: You can still answer any of the previous questions, if you haven't already, for another entry in the drawing. Links to each question are available here: Mega Book Giveaway!!!.

And finally, the question:Did you know this is Children's Book Week? It is! And it probably won't still be Children's Book Week when you answer this question, but that's okay. We're going to talk about kids' books anyway. Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

Choose one or more kids' books or stories. Could be an old favorite you remember from your childhood, or a new one that just came out. Could be a comic book (missed you last week, Rich!) or fairy tale or a ghost story. Whatever strikes you.

Did/does the world of the story match with your world? How do you think it contributes to a child's world view? (For example, I grew up in a very white, middle class American neighborhood--books could either broaden my view of the world or give me an illusion of sameness in the world). Do the characters' looks, values, social status, reflect the diversity of our world? Would it change the meaning of the story if the characters were different?

Don't like that question?: Tell us about a children's book or two that we should know about, with diverse characters, or written by an author of color, or a gay/lesbian author, or an author with a disability, or an author who is diverse in any other way.

Edit 5/31: This Roll Call is still active until June 1 but Mr. Linky is down--please post a link to your post in the comments. Thanks!