Why Representation Matters
“Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us” (Bishop, 1990, para. 1)
Bias does not emerge suddenly - it develops gradually as children make sense of the world around them. Young children form early understandings of identity, difference, relationships, and equity through daily interactions, classroom and playroom practices, and the subtle messages embedded in language and culture (Souto-Manning & Yoon, 2018; Souto-Manning, 2009). These early meaning-making processes shape how children interpret power, belonging, and whose voices matter in their environments.
Children’s literature plays a central role in this early learning. Through stories, children encounter characters whose experiences either affirm what they already know or introduce perspectives that broaden their understanding of the world (Beneke & Cheatham, 2019). Books can reinforce stereotypes and invisibility, or they can disrupt them by offering alternative narratives, possibilities, and identities. By intentionally selecting books that reflect a wide range of human experiences, educators create spaces where children can see themselves, understand others, and begin imagining more equitable worlds (Souto-Manning & Yoon, 2018).
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Rudine Sims Bishop uses the analogy of “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” to illustrate the importance of diversity in children’s literature and in the authors who create these stories. See below to dive deeper into this concept.
Anti-Bias Literacy
​Why Representation Must Be Intentional
Anti-bias literacy is an approach in early childhood education that helps us create learning environments where every child feels respected, valued, and understood. It builds on the idea that early learning settings still carry the long-lasting effects of historical inequities - what Nxumalo and Ross (2019) describe as the “afterlife of segregation… and settler colonialism” (p. 503). Anti-bias literacy works against these patterns by challenging stereotypes, promoting equity, and affirming children’s diverse identities through the books and stories we share.
​​This approach encourages educators to choose books and literacy experiences that reflect a wide range of identities, experiences, values, and voices. It also invites us to look closely at books
Racism can be both reproduced and resisted in [early childcare] talk and text (Beneke & Cheatham, 2019, p. 113).
that may unintentionally reinforce narrow or harmful ideas. The goal is to help children notice when something seems unequitable and to feel confident speaking up. Through age-appropriate stories and conversations, children learn to see themselves and others portrayed in positive and authentic ways (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2019).
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When young children see different types of people in their favourite picture books, the identities of those characters become slowly normalized overtime, especially when the characters’ identities are irrelevant to the plot of the story
(Jackson, 2023, p. 56).
Honouring children’s families, cultures, languages, and identities is essential to socially just early learning. When early learning settings intentionally reflect this diversity, they strengthen practices that support children’s long-term learning (Adam, 2021). Because books strongly influence how children understand themselves and others, educators play a central role in choosing texts that reflect the children in their environment. Representation is not something to add occasionally; it is foundational
to equitable, high-quality early childhood education.
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By curating book collections that honour the identities within your environment - and those beyond it - you help create literacy experiences where every child and family feels seen, valued, and included.