Impact of Protagonist Race on Preschoolers’ Engagement and Preferences in Book Reading: A Systematic Replication

In this systematic replication, we used an alternating treatments design to examine whether preschoolers’ engagement in book reading activities was greater for books with protagonists of the same race compared to books with protagonists of a different race. Seven of the eight participants were White; one was Black. The books used were identical except for the skin color and hair texture of the protagonists. We measured children’s initiations, responses to questions, passive engagement, and preferences for books. Children’s engagement did not consistently vary based on protagonist.