Take-Aways from Recent Panel Discussion

 
​The non-profit Room to Read, publisher of my picture book The Invitation, invited me to participate in a May talk about Diversity of Diversity – The Power of Books in Fostering Inclusive Communities.

The Invitation is about neurodiversity, friendship and inclusion. This is a subject I am exploring in some of my writing as the parent of a neurodiverse child.

It was a little intimidating to be with other panelists having such depth of experience. There were many take-aways. One immediately sticking with me is the notion that not providing an extensive range of diverse books is lying to children about the truths of the world and denying them a chance to find themselves in stories.

• Here’s the panel recording
• Here’s a Room to Read blog post summarizing key take-aways 

The other great news: Room to Read is printing 70,000 copies of its Peace & Equality story collection for free distribution in U.S. book deserts. Kids can read my picture book and many others online for free anytime. Links and other background are on my website.