Pitt program provides books for children to promote social justice, inclusion

The University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development has taken up the cause of social justice and trying to end the cycle of systematic racism through books.

The office works with child care providers in the region to improve their programs and since the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the office has been inspired to take up social justice causes, said director Shannon Wanless.

In 2018, the office started a book drive “Books for Change” where it sought out and distributed children’s books that exemplify diversity to teach and inspire children and their parents to be more inclusive and tolerant of others, Wanless said.

“A conversation about social justice and equity can happen in early childhood,” she said.

Because adults may not know the exact words to use to explain the nuanced issue, the books come in handy.

“A picture book is the best way to get it going,” Wanless said.

This year, the book drive’s theme was Raising Antiracist Readers and the child development office curated a list of 25 books that are geared for infants to 8-year-olds that are written by ethnically diverse authors and explore themes about social justice.

The office worked with City of Asylum books on the North Side and Amazon to encourage people to donate and the response was overwhelming, Wanless said.

“I was so excited to see how much positive response we had,” she said.

More than 1,000 books were donated and this week they are being distributed to child care centers throughout Allegheny County for use in their curriculum.

In selecting the books, the center sough out books that told stories from multiple perspectives from characters of differing ethnic backgrounds that explored positive themes.

Some of the titles include “Happy in Our Skin,” “Julian is a Mermaid” and “The Day You Begin.”

The idea is to start conversations about diversity and inclusion among children when they are young, Wanless said.

“The educators are so excited about it,” she said.

It spurs conversations about the issues of racial and social justice that have become hot-button ones among adults.

“We’re really trying to shift society and figure our how we can see injustices that are happening and stop them from happening,” Wanless said.

Shannon Veltre, who operates Shanny The Nanny Early Learning Center in Forest Hills, participates in the program. She is thankful for the books.

“We use books all day, every day,” Veltre said. “The kids love the books and it helps us out.”

And having books that have been curated to represent diverse themes about social justice is also a plus, Veltre said.

“That’s definitely important,” she said.