Considering Quality and Diversity: An Analysis of Read-Aloud Recommendations and Rationales from Children’s Literature Experts

ABSTRACT We report an analysis of experts’ picturebook recommendations and rationales for read-alouds. Such recommendations are important as experts provide book suggestions to teachers. In this investigation, children’s librarians and children’s literature professors recommended picturebooks as potential read-alouds. Experts also provided selection rationales, resulting in 109 recommendations, 95 unique titles, and preferences for recently published award-winners. Recommended texts were balanced in terms of gender and choices featured characters of color; yet, both groups selected fewer books with authors/illustrators of color, perhaps reflective of trends in publishing. Diverse books were incorporated, but findings indicate the need for increased consideration of diverse texts.