491 - Beyond Diverse Titles: How Families Perceive Representation in Children’s Books Distributed by Reach Out and Read

Publication Number: 4482.491

Danielle Erkoboni, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Blue Bell, PA, United States; Sakina Adamali, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Danielle Sands, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Oreland, PA, United States; Romance Albarqawi, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Background: When children see themselves reflected in books, it fosters belonging and engagement, while exposure to diversity broadens understanding of others. Early exposure to inclusive stories promotes empathy and cross-cultural awareness during social-emotional development. Parents curate the home literacy environment and shape access to and perceptions of diverse themes, yet little is known about how they perceive diversity and engagement features in children’s books.

Objective: To examine how families perceive the diversity and engagement features of intentionally selected diverse books distributed through Reach Out and Read (ROR), and how book representation and book characteristics relate to satisfaction, perceived representation, and reading frequency.

Design/Methods: Caregivers of children 0–5 years old were passively recruited via bookmarks containing a survey QR code, inserted into intentionally selected diverse ROR books at pediatric clinics in a large metropolitan area. Surveys included demographics, perceptions of book diversity, reading habits, and desired representation in future selections. Descriptive statistics summarized caregiver perceptions and engagement. Books will be coded for diversity representation (race/ethnicity, culture, socioeconomics) and book characteristics (format, language, tactile features, illustrations) to examine how these factors relate to caregiver perceptions and engagement.

Results: Among 161 caregivers, most were Black/African American (66%) and female (90%), with 70% reporting monthly household incomes below $4,000. Caregivers reported high satisfaction with the book they received (68% very satisfied, 17% satisfied) and slightly lower satisfaction with clinic-wide distributions (52% very satisfied, 9% somewhat satisfied, 19% unsatisfied). Most caregivers (88%) valued representation when selecting books. Caregivers most desired greater racial/ethnic (46%), neurodiversity (37%), language (31%), lived experience (28%), religious (26%), and gender (22%) diversity. Ongoing analyses will examine caregiver perceptions by book categories and features.

Conclusion(s): This project explores how families perceive and value representation in pediatric literacy programs. It moves beyond counting “diverse titles” to understanding how families experience diversity in the books they receive, their satisfaction with representation, and how book characteristics shape engagement. Findings will inform ROR’s book selection strategies and promote a more culturally responsive approach to early literacy and family engagement.

Table 1
Table1.pdfCaregiver characteristics