Balancing the Books: Meet Some Kids Championing Diversity In Literature

Transcript

Event Date(s): 08/05/2020 | Event Location(s): Today New York City | Description: Jenna Bush Hager reports live in Studio 1A with Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Craig Melvin. GFX: Header "Characters in Children's Books" GFX: Supers "42% White", "36% black, latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, native nations, brown skin" EJ 08:47:31 GFX: Animation of storybook opening with video inserts of various children. GFX: In video insert, The Brown Bookcase Founder Rylei says, "My name is Riley, I'm 9 years old. I'm the founder and CEO of The Brown Bookcase" GFX: In video insert, 14-year-old Books 'n Bros Founder Sidney says, "My name is Sidney. I'm 14. I'm the founder and CEO of Books n Bros." GFX: In video insert, 15-year-old Caitlin Althea Book Blog Founder Caitlin says, "I'm Caitlin. I'm 15 years old. And I'm the founder of the book blog Caitlin Althea." STILLS Insert photos of Caitlin, Rylei, and Sidney. INT MS: Caitlin shelves books. MS: Caitlin works at computer. INTERNET Caitlin's blog INT MS: Sidney reads book with dog sitting in his lap. INT Shots of African American boys with books at Books 'n Bros event. INT MS: Rylei enters library. STILLS Photos of Rylei with storybooks INT MS: In virtual interview Bush Hager says, "Raise your hand if you’ve ever had the issue where you couldn’t find books with characters who look like you?" (ALL RAISE HANDS) MS: Sidney says, "I feel like the world is changing, but not enough yet. I feel like it should be easy for African American boys and girls to find books that represent themselves." MS: Rylei says, "African American children should have books that they are able to relate to as well." MS: Bush Hager says, "How important, Sidney and all of you, is representation? Why does it matter?" MS: Sidney says, "Representation for me is very important because if you don’t see yourself represented, how are you going to see yourself as a positive figure growing up? When you see somebody that looks like you as the main character and the main hero, you kind of feel empowered like I can be a super hero too and that’s something that every kid should be able to feel." MS: Bush Hager says, "Why do you think it’s important that we read about other cultures, that I read about other cultures, that you guys read about other cultures?" MS: Caitlin says, "So we can normalize whiteness not being the default. Because when I was younger I used to think that because I wasn’t white, I was different. When you read from a perspective that isn’t really yours, you realize that you can still relate to someone who is different to you." MS: Sidney says, "That’s how we become ignorant to a culture is by not understanding it and making false assumptions about it." INT MS: Sidney reads a book with the dog seated in his lap. INT MS: Caitlin reads a book. STILLS Photo of Rylei with storybook "I Believe I Can" GFX: In video insert, Rylei says, "My summer pick is I Believe I Can by Grace Byers. I picked that book because it tells a lot about what you can try to do. No dream is too big to accomplish." GFX: Insert "I Believe I Can" STILLS Pages from "I Believe I Can" INT MS: Sidney holds book "Ghost Boys." GFX: In video insert, Sidney says, "My pick is Ghost Boys. A book that kind of talks about police brutality. It's about a 12 year old boy who was actually shot by the police and his ghost kind of goes to his to the police officer’s daughter, and they kind of like talk in a sense so the story is about their friendship." GFX: Insert "Ghost Boys" GFX: Animation depicts the story of "Ghost Boys." INT M: Sidney says, 'It's a way of understanding everything in society that's going on right now, in a way that's not too harsh on like young readers." INT MS: Caitlin holds copy of book "Love From A to Z." She says, "I've chosen love from A to Z by SK Ali." GFX: In video insert, Caitlin says, "It's about two Muslim teens. One is Zayneb and she recently got suspended by an Islamophobic teacher and she meets a boy named Adam at the airport and it's about their love story." GFX: Insert "Love From A to Z." GFX: Graphics depict the story of "Love From A to Z." INT MS: Caitlin says, "Even though Zayneb faces a lot of microaggressions for being Muslim. She still experiences a lot of joy in her life." MS: Bush Haer says ,"I feel like this is a book club meeting and I’m a teacher again and I’m having so much fun. You're so inspirational. And all you are every single one of you. You guys can be my forever kid correspondents." GFX: Animation of storybook closing. GFX: "I Believe I Can", "Ghost Boys", and "Love From A to Z" In X-talk, Bush Hager announces the three books are picks for a special kids edition of "Read With Jenna." GFX: "I Believe I Can", "Ghost Boys", and "Love From A to Z"