The Big Kids Book Club: Reading Children’s Books as an Intimate Practice of Care with and for Black Queer Life

Shaunasea Brown; Mila Mendez; Juanita Stephen

doi:10.18357/jcs513202621798

Authors

Shaunasea Brown Wilfrid Laurier University https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3529-7536
Mila Mendez York University https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7398-3025
Juanita Stephen University of Windsor https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6590-425X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs513202621798

Keywords:

children's literature , Black studies , gender studies , relational readings

Abstract

The Big Kids Book Club brings together our
perspectives and experiences as Black women and
gender nonconforming people engaged in youth
work, advocacy, and research; Black feminist cultural
production; and Black queer parenting. In this article
we center Black queer (and) feminist approaches with
interest in how Black queer children’s narratives take us
beyond representation and into realms of resignifying
and worldmaking. Our roundtable discussions explore
what it means to encounter children’s books written with
Black queer life in mind and demonstrate a relational
reading practice that reads and gathers in Black queer
spaces while expanding possibilities for Black life.

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