'We Need Diverse Books' calls for more representative writing for children

A campaign to address the continuing lack of diversity in children's literature has been kicked off by a group of authors who are hoping to "raise [their] voices into a roar that can't be ignored".

The social media campaign, from authors including Ellen Oh, Aisha Saeed and Chelsea Pitcher, is being launched with a "public call for action" over the next three days. On Thursday, the campaigners – who have set up the We Need Diverse Books website – are asking readers to take a photo holding a sign that says "We need diverse books because … " On Friday, there will be a Twitter chat about the issue and why it matters using the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks, and on Saturday the writers will launch the third part of their campaign, with a "Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to … buy diverse books and take photos of them".

"Recently, there's been a groundswell of discontent over the lack of diversity in children's literature," say the authors, with a US study in March showing that of 3,200 children's books published in 2013, only 93 were about black people, 34 about Native Americans, 69 about Asians and 57 about Latinos.

"The issue is being picked up by news outlets," write the authors. "But while we individually care about diversity, there is still a disconnect. BEA's Bookcon recently announced an all-white male panel of 'luminaries of children's literature', and when we pointed out the lack of diversity, nothing changed. Now is the time to raise our voices into a roar that can't be ignored."

The campaign has quickly gathered support online, from author Gayle Foreman's statement that "The reason #WeNeedDiverseBooks: So both my daughters can see themselves – and each other – in books", to fellow writer LM Davis's comment that "WeNeedDiverseBooks because people of colour shouldn't believe that they have to write about white characters to find an audience".

As #WeNeedDiverseBooks trended on Twitter, publisher Lee & Low Books – which helped launch the campaign – wrote that diverse books are needed because "despite myths to the contrary, there's a market for them. We've been selling them for 20 years"; and Oh that: "#WeNeedDiverseBooks because of the young girl who looked at me with stars in her eyes and said, 'Now I know I can be a writer too!'"

"At every conference I or my writer friends attend, there are kids asking why they can't find books with characters who look like them, either on the cover or in the pages," wrote Oh on her blog . "The same thing happens at book signings, except there the kids are saying they've always wanted to get into writing, but don't think they'll be successful because they're people of colour."

She said that "queer kids are still killing themselves over being different (or being told that they're different) and the greater representation they have in books, the less alone they'll feel", and that "awesome genres like YA wouldn't exist if we hadn't moved away from the old, white dude model of literature and started reading stories written by ladies."

"Diversify Your Shelves is a continuation of that principle – hearing all stories from all voices," said Oh. "Because it's 2014, but we still keep seeing all-white panels at book festivals, or even all-white male panels (in genres vastly dominated by women!) and that's kind of insane to me. Diversity shouldn't be the exception. It should be the norm."

Books cited by the campaigners include Meg Medina's Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, Jaclyn Dolamore's Magic Under Glass, and Matt de la Pena's The Living.

Tell us about the diverse books you think children (and adults) should read and why that's important – and share a photo of the book if you have it. We will publish a selection on the Guardian site.

To participate, click on one of the blue "contribute" buttons or, if you're out and about, you can download the GuardianWitness app on your smartphone.