Joshua’s Night Whispers is a sweet board book about a father and son and preparing for sleep. It gently addresses the nighttime fears of young children, and the safety of a parent’s presence. Like Ezra Jack Keats’ much earlier books, A Whistle for Willie and The Snowy Day, the hero of this story is Black. No attention is called to his race in the text, and as with Keats’ work, therein lies its power. For far too many years, Black children have not seen themselves reflected often enough in children’s literature (or in children’s toys, e.g., Barbie dolls). Keats’ books were some of the earliest by a white author to have Black children as main characters. (You can read more about Keats here).

For a detailed and more academic history on the study of Black children in literature, please see this article by Violet J. Harris in The Journal of Negro Education (Volume 59, No.4, 1990), “African American Children’s Literature: The First 100 Years.” As Harris points out, “children’s literature serves the important role of mediator between children, cultural knowledge, and socialization by adults” (541). In recent years, more and more literature for children has been written by Black authors with Black children as the main characters. For far too many years, Black children were depicted in incredibly stereotypical ways and were all too often “grotesque caricatures” (Harris, 542). Black children’s authors like Angela Johnson, Lucille Clifton, Walter Dean Myers, Virginia Hamilton, and so many others, have done much to begin to correct this grave disservice. As Harris concludes, “If African-American children do not see reflections of themselves in school texts or do not perceive any affirmation of their cultural heritage in those texts, then it is quite likely they will not read or value schooling as much” (552). This points directly to the absolute necessity of updating and revising the academic canon - from elementary school through college. (Note that University of Chicago has limited its Ph.D program in English literature in 2021/22 only to students working in and with Black studies. I love that so much, especially since when I was getting my Masters in English at the University of Colorado, Boulder, I had ONE Black professor to work with, and he was the ONLY one who encouraged my interest in Black American literature).

On a more political level, it is important to note that this is the story of a Black father and his son, at a time in American history when 1 in 3 Black boys born today will end up incarcerated, and the Black population in prison (both male and female) is disproportionate to the overall population of Blacks in the US. Organizations like the Equal Justice Initiative address these disparities, and the need for criminal justice reform. You can also visit the Sentencing Project and Southern Poverty Law Center for more information.

Books like Joshua’s Night Whispers are antiracist just in their very being. They provide a much- needed antidote to some of the previous caricatures of Blacks in children’s literature. Just as importantly, books like these, meant for the very youngest, are the starting point for revising the canon of children’s literature. Classic children’s literature – beloved works like The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Make Way For Ducklings, or Charlotte’s Web – inscribe a particular white reality, reflecting little of our very diverse world. It isn’t necessary to reject those classics, but it is essential for parents of all races to be introduced to a new canon of children’s literature that more accurately introduces children of all races to the world as it is – in all its multifaceted and colorful beauty.