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Picture books can be a powerful way to teach kids about the importance of representation and to steep them in diversity from a very young age.
What children are exposed to early on shapes them forever, and that’s certainly true when it comes to diversity and acceptance. At just 6 months old, for example, babies are able to recognize race-based differences. Racial bias can set in once they’re 2. And by the time they’re tweens, many of those biases and beliefs have become “set,” the American Academy of Pediatrics warns.
So parents basically have a decade-ish to fundamentally influence how their children view and value diversity, while living within a broader system in which inequality is rampant. It’s quite a task.