Curator of Wonder

I'm in love with Aurélia Durand's illustrations. I want to tear them out and hang them on my walls. I won't, because this is a library book (which I've been lucky to have with me during lockdown) and because I want as many people as possible to have the chance to read this.  The art is full of beautiful black and brown faces. The pages are absolutely bursting with color.  As a whole, the book straddles a line between highly polished and a little homemade. It's is reminiscent of a zine that has grown up and taken over the school.  This book is what it says on the tin: a manual on how to take action against racism.  It explores what being "anti-racist" means, and how that's different from claiming to "not be racist." As the subtitle indicates, the book includes "20 lessons on how to wake up, take action, and do the work." These lessons take the form of journal prompts and activities like reflecting on your own social identities and hi...

At the first library conference I ever went to, I sat on the floor in a packed room while Andrea Davis Pinkney gave a lunch lecture to a crowd of Wisconsin librarians. She talked about the importance of diversity in picture books, and “showing the face” of black and brown children up front and center on the covers of books. Her presentation was engaging, visual, and included a call to action: Write a love letter to diversity. Here is mine. In general, I try to make a habit of surrounding myself with people who might have something to teach me. I'm firmly of the philosophy "I want to be the dumbest person in the room." In seeking out environments filled with people who are smarter than me, have been made aware of how much I have to learn, how much I still do not know how much I do not know. In moving through these experiences, I learned the importance of educating myself so as not to put the onus of educating me on people of color, of disabled people, of LG...