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At a time when book bans are raging and the federal government is pushing back against DEI initiatives, there’s one place where diversity is thriving: children’s literature. Picture bookswhich cater to those under the age of 10are often children’s first introduction to poetry and art. And this year, there are many newly-published picture books that celebrate aspects of Black life in nuanced ways, portraying history, culture, and joy. Here are five of our favorites. ‘City Summer, Country Summer’ [Art: Courtesy of Kokila/Penguin Random House] By Kiese Laymon, illustrated by Alexis Franklin. (Kokila/Penguin Young Readers, ages 5-9.) Author Kiese Laymon is the author of Heavy: An American Memoir. In 2020, he wrote an article for the New York Times describing what how Black boys from New York would come down South to visit their grandparents during the summer months. He’s translated this narrative into a story about three Black boys who spend a summer together exploring the woods of Mississippi, under the watchful eye of their grandmother. Under the surface, you find a tale about how the Great Migration shaped the Black community, resulting in different subcultures in the North and South. But ultimately the story is about the tender bonds of friendship that Black boys create with one another, and how they turn to one other to express their joy, as well as their fear. ‘Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became A Writer’ [Art: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers] By Quartez Harris, illustrated by Gordon C James. (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, ages 7-10.) James Baldwin is remembered as a celebrated writer whose work offered Americans a powerful insight into the richness and complexity of Black American life. But few of us know about his childhood. Growing up in Harlem, he was known as a Jimmy, and the stepson of a Reverend who preached fiery sermons against racism. At fourteen, Jimmy decided to take to the pulpit, but chose to speak from a place of love. This pivotal moment informs the years to come, as Jimmy leaves home to become a writer. With lyrical language, the book shows Jimmy traveling to France and returning back to New York to write his first book, Go Tell It On The Mountain. ‘On Our Way! What a Day!’ [Art: Courtesy of Penguin Random House] By JaNay Brown-Wood, illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin Young Readers, ages 4-6). This is a fun, colorful book that will delight young readers. Six grandkids wake up and get ready to go visit their grandmother on her birthday. But none of them have a gift. As they walk over as a grouplooking after one another along the waythey come across lots of little objects, from pine cones to pencils. But they’re not sure whether any of these things are good enough for Gram. This book is ultimately about the joy of having siblings, discovering treasures in the world around us, and enjoying a little bit of independence from grown-ups. The illustrations in this book are replete with little details that will keep children coming back to it again and again. ‘And She Was Loved: Toni Morrison’s Life’ [Art: Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers] By Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Daniel Minter. (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; ages 4-8). This book is written as a poem that captures the beauty in Toni Morrison’s language. It depicts how she grew up in a small town in Ohio by the name of Chloe Ardelia, finding joy playing hopscotch in the playground and as the only Black girl at her school. It was at Howard University that she decided to take her fate into her own hands and change her name. We learn about how Morrison rose through the ranks of the all-white publishing world as an editor. And even though she have very little time as a single mother, she woke up a four in the morning to write her own stories. The words, and she was loved echoes in each page, reflecting how she took all the support her community gave her to create some of the greatest works of American literature. ‘Girls on the Rise’ [Art: Courtesy of Penguin Random House] By Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loveis Wise. (Viking Books for Young Readers, ages 4-8). The poet Amanda Gorman has a new picture book dedicated to girls, written in verse. It is a manifesto about how girls are strong and capable, but are unstoppable when they work together to bring about change. The book nods to history, as the illustrations explore everything from the achievements of everyone from Beyonce to the Williams sisters to Simone Biles. But it also hints at how women have had to fight for their rights, including reproductive freedom. Gorman first came to the world’s attention as the youngest poet to speak at a presidential inauguration four years ago, when President Biden entered office. As a new administration takes root with a much more regressive stance on women’s rights, this picture book could not come at a better time.
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When White Lotus first season debuted in 2021 and shot to near-instant acclaim, it was a sleeper hit for HBO. But now, four years later, HBO is well aware of just how enthusiastic White Lotuss fanbase has becomeand, to tap into the shows highly online viewership, its marketing team has decided to officially don their tin foil hats and fangirl right alongside the rest of us. White Lotus recently debuted its own TikTok page dedicated to stirring up conversation around the shows third season, which just debuted. Its the first time that the show itself will have a separate TikTok presence from HBOs broader account. White Lotuss marketing team is in a unique position, given that its joining TikTok after a culture of mining the show for meme fodder has already flourished organically on the app. (See: Jennifer Coolidges unforgettable delivery of the line, These gays, theyre trying to murder me being the soundtrack to dozens of mash-ups and even a few original songs.) @thewhitelotus Vacation doesn't always go the way you planned. #TheWhiteLotus #HBO #StreamOnMax original sound – The White Lotus As a result, the White Lotus TikTok account needs to offer something unique to stand out from the crowdand their strategy includes pulling back the curtain on behind-the-scenes anecdotes, fan theories, actor perspectives, and hidden details from the show. Its a move that taps into the growing culture of using TikTok as a site for exchanging detailed critical analyses of popular media. Especially in the White Lotus, when you see the craft that [director Mike White] puts into the details of everything, people want to dive in, says Pia Barlow, EVP of originals marketing at HBO and Max. Like, Oh, did you see that that statue was turned this way? Or, Did you catch that little aside that some character said that paid off later in the episode? It’s really a way for us to engage fans by tapping into memes and trends, but also theories and speculation. The new account currently hosts about 27,000 followers. Its most successful clips are digging into small anecdotes, like one video with 6.3 million views about how Jennifer Coolidge hated being on a boat in the shows second season, or an in-depth analysis of a confrontation scene in season 1 thats racked up 10.1 million views so far. [Photo: TikTok @theWhiteLotus] These kinds of videos feed fans appetite for close-reading beloved seriesespecially those with a mysterious plot linewithin a community of other viewers. A search for white lotus fan theories on TikTok produces dozens of results from the shows last season, digging into everything from the subtle motifs of background wallpaper to how certain plot points might mirror Homers The Odyssey. TikTok users have similarly used the platform to hash out ideas during recent seasons of Succession, Squid Game, and, currently, the second season of Apple TVs Severance. For TikTok in particular, it’s really about just being aware of whatever trends are happening in real timewhich, as you know, changes weekly, or even daily, Barlow says. So its about behaving like a fan. For White Lotuss marketing team, digging into the shows small nuances on TikTok is a pretty smart way to cosplay as a fan. As of yet, its unclear just how much the account will attempt to harness the meme culture thats bound to pop up around season threea move that might be harder to pull off, given that the new account is pretty late to the scene. And, to be honest, wed take a Gen Alpha teens fan edit of Jennifer Coolidge falling off of a boat over an in-house video from HBOs marketing team any day.
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This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Imagine turning your reading history into a treasure map. By feeding a list of your favorite books and movies to an AI assistant, you can uncover hidden patterns in what you love. From your subconscious attraction to unreliable narrators to your love for stories that begin at the end, you may be surprised by what an AI assistant can reveal. Building a personal taste atlas helps you understand your reading self better. It can also surface blind spots in your cultural diet and point you toward unexplored literary territories youre likely to love. Why analyze your preferences? This isnt just another recommendation engine. Netflix or Amazon may suggest what to watch or buy next based on viewing history, but a taste atlas goes much deeper. It analyzes themes, narrative structures, and emotional resonance across media formats. It can reveal connections between novels you adore and foreign films youve never heard of, or help you articulate why certain stories stick with you while others dont. You can tune the atlas by adjusting the info and examples you give it. You can customize the analysis with your prompts, asking for particular kinds of observations or recommendations. With AIs help, you can map out your own universe of awesome. As you scout out gaps in your reading or movie watching, you can discover authors and films that expand your horizons. Start by gathering your favorites You need to provide an AI assistant with a list of at least 10-15 titles that resonate with you for meaningful insights; 30+ is better. Here are the fastest ways to gather them. Physical books or DVDs: snap a photo of your bookshelf. AI can read the titles. Or write a list of titles on paper. AI assistants can read handwriting surprisingly well. Digital readers: refer to your Kindle library, your read shelf on Goodreads, listen history on Audible, timeline on Libby, or any doc or spreadsheet you maintain with your favorites. Streaming: Apps like Likewise, Sofa, Listy, Listium, Letterboxd, Trakt, and Reelgood let you compile lists of favorites. You can use those collections to train your AI assistant. Use your voice: If talking jogs your memory, use conversation mode in ChatGPT, Claude, Googles Gemini, or Microsofts CoPilot. Let the AI interview you about your favorite books or movies. Scan award lists: If you cant think of favorites, check a list of Oscar-winning movies or book awards for reminders of what youve enjoyed. Criteria: Consider titles you often revisit or recommend. Include recent favorites and older resonant ones. Give extra weight to those that provoked emotion, changed your perspective, or prompted action. Ideally, note not just the title but one or more aspects of a work that particularly resonated. Prompt AI to analyze your list Once you’ve compiled your list, use your preferred AI tool to uncover patterns in your literary tastes. Prompt the AI assistant for insights to advance your self-understanding. After that, ask it to help you discover more books/movies you’ll love. Start by writing a detailed prompt to elicit a thorough, subtle analysis of your taste in books or movies. Heres an example you can adopt or adapt: You are a perceptive literary critic and cultural analyst with deep knowledge of literature across genres and cultures. Carefully analyze the attached list of my favorite books for patterns. Think deeply about connections between titles and topics that might not be immediately apparent. Where you notice interesting patterns, explain your reasoning and cite specific examples. Please analyze this list of my favorite books. Create a detailed literary taste profile that identifies: Core Elements: Primary themes and topics Genre preferences and style patterns Narrative approaches and structure choices Character types and relationships Tone and emotional range Upload a file with your list or paste it. Which AI tool to use? ChatGPT 4o worked well for me in importing Google Docs and PDFs with my favorites. Its analysis and recommendations were nuanced and helpful. Limitation: Occasionally, it suggested authors who were already in my existing lists, despite being prompted not to. Claude Pro provided an excellent overview of the kinds of books Ive selected for the book group I facilitate over the past eight years. It helped identify gaps in our reading list and offered useful suggestions for future titles. Limitation: Some documents I tried to import, like my Readwise reading highlights, were too large to fit in a Claude Project I created for my taste atlas. Gemini 2.0 Experimental Advanced, Googles newest model, was an excellent voice partner in analyzing my current reading interests. Limitation: 2.0 couldnt yet import documents, but Gemini 1.5 could. It helpfully analyzed the Google Doc with my complete Readwise Highlights archive. Use either free or premium AI tools for this analysis. For long book lists or extensive highlights, use a pro model for nuanced analysis. Expand your taste horizons Once an AI tool has analyzed your book or movie preferences, prompt it to suggest new authors and titles. Ask about specific connections between the titles you liked and its recommendations, so you understand the rationale. Cultural leaps: Ask AI to identify authors who write like your favorites but in different languages or cultures. Whats missing? Try a prompt about negative space what authors, titles, topics or genres are missing from your favorites. What notable titles might stretch your literary horizons?
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