Parents and guardians understand that reading with our children is important. Reading every day can build vocabulary, cognition, focus, and memory. Reading every day can also improve mental health. The National Association of Mental Illness says that reading, in addition to increasing our understanding and making us more empathetic, actually helps reduce stress. A University of Sussex study says that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%, making it more effective as a means to relax than listening to music or even yoga.
With a long history of advocacy surrounding literacy, Black communities are some of the fiercest advocates when it comes to reading and representation in literature. This can be seen contemporarily in the work of Veronica Chapman, author, creator of the platform Black Baby Books, and founder of Black Children’s Book Week. “Children’s books are so accessible. I think children’s books are the best. Children’s books are great tools, great for both having it reading being modeled and the stress of both the parent and the child and the stressful world.” says Chapman.
Black Children’s Book Week, which is observed from February 25 through March 2, highlights books by Black authors featuring Black characters. Now in its third year, the week boasts international events, pop-ups, author chats, and library events. “This event [centers] the mission of raising the vibration in the world for Black children. We can just take our little piece and do something alive with this mission this week in concert with people around the world. It’s really affirming.” says Chapman.
But misinformation surrounding Black children’s literacy persists. While there is data that suggests that Black communities struggle with reading, Sterling Grimes, education advocate, and former middle and high school English educator, says that we should question that data.
He says that there are often two schools of thought around Black literacy. Some believe that literacy gaps exist because of the erasure of identity in reading, whether in the past or as a part of book bans. Some believe that it is part of the legacy of oppression.
“I think the reality is actually more often in the middle, that there are specific factors that are systemic that have created more challenges for more Black people in America. What challenges the perception of the ability of our folks to read is lack of strong instruction, which is a systemic education issue. But some of this is on us as a community to demand more everywhere to ensure that our people have more access to the resources that we know exist and that can give people more opportunity.”
The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), a report used to gauge the progress of students across the United States, says that “85 percent of Black students lack proficiency in reading skills.” While NAEP scores are down across racial demographics due to education challenges due to pandemic lockdowns, experts fear that looking at these scores alone plays into the detrimental stereotypes about Black people’s intelligence and aptitude.
NAEP acknowledges that the scores themselves do not tell the full story. For example, the NAEP only tests students from Grades 4, 8, and 12. As any educator and guardian knows, other factors, such as the student’s socioeconomic status, resources available to students, disenfranchisement of majority Black institutions, and so on. What the NAEP does highlight is the ramifications of education disparities in the United States.
However, Grimes suggests we also expand what we believe is literacy, noting that proof of our children’s literacy can be seen in an unexpected place; social media. “Our kids read on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and analyze information. Some of those modalities are visual but some also script. They are used to operating in text messages for the majority of their conversations and communication. They are building fluency in a number of different modalities and languages. The real work of education is saying let me help connect you to other information and help you feel empowered to navigate this successfully. That’s what literacy is.”
A Reader’s Identity
Both Chapman and Grimes agree that it all starts by getting involved and parental involvement in reading with children enhances literacy outcomes. Kids whose parents read with them learn to love it. But the first steps are taken before kids crack open books.
Grimes says that it’s all about adopting the identity of a reader. “That’s done through modeling and in paired reading that demonstrates that [reading] is something that we do—the people in my village, the people in my community, the people that I belong to. We are readers, as an identity. It starts at that level and then carries on through the complementary work that parents can do to support what kids are experiencing in class.”
Next, identify books that represent your child. For Chapman, it always comes back to representation. “When Black children see themselves represented in books, they are more eager to look at them and read them. Representation is so powerful in the sense that even if someone is a reluctant reader, seeing someone who looks like them in a book will push them and encourage them to at least try, she says.”
Teach By Example
Parents need to view themselves as active partners in their child’s education. As our child’s first teachers, parents can collaborate with their child’s educators by making them aware of their child’s bright spots and where their opportunities for growth lie. Grimes says “I absolutely see parents as vital partners in what it means to be literate; what it means to build those skills all the way through the P through 12 experience. None of this is truly possible without them.”
Chapman agrees, saying “Partner with more literacy experts who are focused specifically on how to help children learn to read. We’re thinking about all children. We’re thinking about little kids, but also teenagers and young adults. Collaborate to have some sort of fun intervention.” Should a parent notice that interventions are needed, seeking the help of reading specialists, tutors, and other reading experts early on can help students who struggle get back on track.
Chapman stresses that guardians need to make the time to read, for both cognitive and mental health benefits. “A lot of adults feel that they are too busy trying to survive. They feel like they don’t have time. But the great thing about children’s books is that they are so short. Short and engaging. The best children’s books are great tools for having reading being modeled and reducing stress on both the parent and the child and the stressful world.”
Be the Change
The process of learning is not restricted to time in school alone. While educators play their role at school and parents play their role at home, parents should remember that they have a role to play.
Grimes says, “We can’t all go on Twitter and say that kids are terrible in schools and then nobody wants to show up and make schools more enjoyable for kids. That doesn’t mean everybody has to be a teacher, but you can find an hour to go engage and be a mentor that gives one more kid a smarter, more useful, more impactful option. It gives them access, opportunity, a window into something that’s doable.”
From mentors and tutors to programs through our community centers and churches, community plays a vital role in our children’s education.
“If we just change the way that we view our kids in relation to these factors of society I think we absolutely will see them reflect,” he says.
Reading List
Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Bernette G. Ford (2-6 years)
A conversation between a grandson and his grandfather to the countryside to go fishing becomes a reminder of the importance of real connection and the value of knowing your history.
Hey You! An Empowering Celebration of Growing Up Black by Dapo Adeola (2-6 years)
A love letter to Black children that reminds our kids to be proud of who they are and who they come from.
I Know I Can! by Veronica Chapman (2-6 years)
Chapman’s own children’s book on the power and beauty of acknowledging your own ability.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (15 years +)
A sweeping science fiction adventure about strength, power dynamics, and what is better, embracing one’s own magic.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (12 years +)
The complex and haunting story of a Black woman in the 1930s South and her desire to find real love.
