As a picture book writer, lifelong reader, employee at a literacy nonprofit, and parent of a toddler, I spend a LOT of time thinking about children’s books. More time than anyone should, to be honest. Typically, this newsletter is a semi-regular review of the must-reads for picture book writers, parents, and kiddos. Today, I’ll be going off script.

I want to emphasize that this is a personal newsletter. The views represented here are mine and mine alone.

If you’ve read any prior issues of Reading with Z, it should not surprise you that I stand firmly on the left. I believe that all people deserve the opportunity to live as their authentic selves, with access to good health care, housing, food security, education. I believe that kids are people and should be treated as such; that mental health is as important as physical health (if not more so); that the justice system should serve communities rather than terrorize them; that LGBTQIA+ people exist and deserve to be treated as people; that people of racial and ethnic backgrounds different than my own exist and deserve to be treated as people; that genocide is inexcusable, no matter who’s committing it. You get the picture.

I can have empathy for, and work to understand, people whose experiences and beliefs differ from my own. Unless those beliefs include invalidating the humanity, rights, and lived experiences of others. Fuck right off with that.

I’m not going to try to get into all the despicable things Trump and his cronies have started to implement in just two weeks. There are just so many things, and they’re all SO. GROSS.

Instead, I’m going to zoom in on literacy because (1) it’s appropriate to this newsletter and (2) the National Assessment of Educational Progress report released this week highlights the continued systemic divide in access to education.

Nationwide, less than a third of 4th graders read proficiently at grade level (it’s actually down to 31% from 33% in 2022). Only 19% of low-income 4th graders can do the same; numbers are similar for Black and Hispanic students. That is absolutely disgusting and unforgivable.

And yet during this crisis, political leaders are defunding public education, and government support in general. They’re also explicitly denying the basic fact that systemic inequities exist and forcefully silencing those who try to speak truth to power.

Education is a fundamental right. We need to do all we can to raise the next generation to be literate, so that they can be well-informed, empathetic, and analytical. So they can see through all the shit that literal Nazis are trying to shove down our throats, and so that they can join us in the fight to do better.

Quick pause for a cute pic of my burgeoning reader. She brings me hope, and we’re moving onto the more hopeful part of this issue of Reading with Z.

A Very Incomplete List of How to Take Action

I’m going to list a few things we can do to work to make things better. Once again, I’m limiting this list to literacy and education; if I expand it, it’d just be overwhelming. But there are a lot of other really important issues that urgently need to be addressed, so if one of those calls to you more, go forth and take action in that area instead.

Read to the kids in your life as much as possible. Expose your kids, grandkids, niblings, nextdoor neighbor’s kids, and any other kids you encounter to books. Make a point of highlighting a wide variety of perspectives. Don’t listen to LITERAL NAZIS who tell you to stop caring about diversity, equity, and inclusion and try to erase the vast variability of human experience. Fuck those people.

Visit and support your local library. Go to story time and free events. Donate. If you can’t go in person, you can still check out audiobooks, e-books, and magazines using apps like Libby. And you can be even more proactive: My friend is a member of the newly formed NYC Public Library Action Network. Join them if you’re in New York* or see if similar groups exist near you.

*Send an email to [email protected] to learn more and join the cause.

Buy from indie bookstores. Let’s give less money to billionaires, invest in our communities, and keep the reading going.

 Thank teachers and advocate for schools. Teachers work hard. Say thank you to the teachers you run into. Make a HUGE fuss when you hear of a local school banning books. Advocate for your school district to use research-based curricula. Remind your leaders that science is a real thing.

Donate time, talent, treasure, ties, or testimony. I’m going to get all “professional fundraiser” on you: Give what you can, when you can, to schools, libraries, nonprofits, or community groups doing great work. You can volunteer (“time” and sometimes “talent”), donate (“treasure”), spread the word in your networks (“ties”), and share your personal experience (“testimony”).

If you’re not sure where to start, here’s a brief list of some really great literacy and education nonprofits, some local to me and others less so. There are many, many more out there.

• American Library Association and American Association of School Librarians

• Bottom Line

• BookGive

• Burning Through Pages

• Colorado Youth for a Change

• Denver Public Library Friends Foundation

• Denver Public Schools Foundation

• First Book

• Fund for Teachers

• National Equity Project

• Reach Out and Read

• Reading Partners

• SEO Scholars

• Unite Against Book Bans

• We Need Diverse Books

The Book Recommendations You Expect

Maya Angelou Finds Her Voice by Connie and Peter Roop, illustrated by Noa Denmon: While on vacation in Steamboat Springs, we stopped in Off the Beaten Path Bookstore. Trying to get Z to pick a book to buy, I briefly had my back to her. I heard her say, “boop,” and turned around. My friends, she was booping the small-child version of Maya Angelou right on the nose.

Like much of Angelou’s life, this book is heavy and also filled with joy and strength. I’m proud of my girl for her wonderful taste. I also realized I really need to get Z more biographical stories!

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson: Okay, okay. I know Ferdinand is a classic, but I’d somehow never read it! Off the Beaten Path had a used copy though, so that has been rectified. I get why this gentle bull who just wants to smell flowers has broad appeal and was deeply relieved when we didn’t actually have to witness any bullfighting. As an emo kid at heart, I was also delighted when reading the phrase “under the cork tree” and finally understanding the name of that most memorable of Fall Out Boy albums.

A recommendation for adults: Simple Sabotage by… the CIA, I guess: Alison Green recently shared this link in a column about the federal funding freeze. It’s a CIA guidebook with practical advice for the layman to subtly sabotage fascist regimes. It’s old school, but there are still some good little nuggets in there.

What else are you doing to fight the ignorance and hate that dominates current political discourse and hurts all of us? Tell me; I’ll try to join you.

With love,

Jordyn Jefferson
Learn more about my writing at www.jordynjefferson.com.