EP113: Dr. Krista Aronson PhD on picture books, extended contact, and central identity

I've always thought that (a) book(s) can change the world. Books have definitely changed me. Picture books are a format that I got more familiar with as an adult reading to my children, and as a genre, I think they are hugely important. Dr. Krista Aronson is a psychologist whose work bridges my interest in picture books with my attempts to more fully see, hear, and feel the world around me. Dr. Krista M. Aronson, PhD is Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of Faculty at Bates College. She researches how we come to understand constructs like race and ethnicity and how best to discuss the topic with children. She also looks at how picture books can be effectively used in such conversations. Dr. Aronson herself is a citizen of the African diaspora and helps host the Blackbird Children’s Book Festival. She has established a Diverse Book Finder, and the Diverse BookFinder's Collection Analysis Tool (CAT) can be shared with libraries in the US and on US military bases to assess what stories/races/identities are represented in a given collection. CAT link: https://cat.diversebookfinder.org/