Mirror and window effects: creating heroes who look like your child—and new friends who don’t.
Books serve as mirrors reflecting a reader’s own life and as windows revealing lives unlike their own. Personalized stories can provide both by letting children choose who appears on the page.
The representation gap
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center reported that only 45 percent of the 2023 titles it received featured characters of color, despite children of color making up more than half of the U.S. child population.
Empathy through fiction
Experimental work shows that children who are deeply transported into a fictional story exhibit higher empathy scores after reading.
The censorship backdrop
PEN America documented more than 10,000 individual book bans in U.S. schools during the 2023–24 year, with the majority targeting titles featuring characters of color or LGBTQ+ identities.
Customization as solution
When families choose skin tones, cultures, and family structures for heroes and sidekicks, every child is guaranteed both a mirror and a window, regardless of what is—or isn’t—on school shelves.
Checklist for inclusive stories
- Let your child design the hero’s appearance, including mobility aids, religious dress, or hairstyle.
- Add supporting‑cast slots for real friends from different backgrounds.
- Alternate mirror chapters (hero resembles the reader) with window chapters (hero meets someone different).
- Use the story to spark conversations about respect, fairness, and allyship.