We believe in the power of community - that it takes a village to raise a reader - and here at A THOUSAND WORLDS, we are creating this village.
We are doing this with a PICTURE BOOK DIRECTORY. It connects readers to beautiful picture books written and illustrated by BIPOC, spotlights the intersectional BIPOC creatives whose books we feature, and acknowledges BIPOC leaders in the industry - librarians, editors, reviewers, authors, teachers and more - by inviting them to curate our directory and partner on programs.
Our hope is to bring the world to our young readers in an artful way, via innovative picture books that reflect our world, and in turn raise a reader who is more conscious of the world - diverse, surprising, and remarkable.
Our goal is to effect systemic change. We want to increase visibility and revenue for BIPOC creatives and decision-makers as a means to shape the future of the children’s book industry to be more equitable.
We believe in celebrating differences. We believe in widening the gates of admission. We believe in continuing the evolution of art and storytelling. We see a world of possibilities beyond the pages of a picture book.
Imagine a world in which all children see themselves not only in picture books but also in the picture book industry
ENJOY and READ ON!
Team:
Cátia Chien – Founder
Raine Revere – Technical Lead
Jody Mak – Product and UX Advisor
Michael Belcher – Lead Data Organizer & Entry
Thank you:
Wendy Macnaughton & Women Who Draw
NPR Book Concierge (open source code)
Kait Feldmann
Michael R. Rippens
All invited contributors who submitted book recommendations
A THOUSAND WORLDS: We will continue to grow our book directory as recommendations come in.
We are planning to launch the full 2.0 site with added features at the end of 2020.