Anna McQuinn, Rosalind Beardshaw, and Ruth Hearson, thank you for giving us not only one book with lovable, diverse role models, but whole series devoted to these people! Okay, let’s start at the very surface - these are wonderful picture book series that not only feature humans as the main characters, but that highlight underrepresented humans as the main characters! According to School Library Journal, of children’s books published in 2018, 50% depicted white characters, 27% animal/other characters, and only 10% featured African or African American characters (and the numbers for other minorities were even worse, and skew even farther, when only looking at picture books). Thank you for considering making a purchase through my links! To read my full disclosure CLICK HERE. As an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. I must admit, though, that I didn’t even know McQuinn had done a few books featuring Leo until I was prepping for this post and noticed them in our library catalogue! Read on to hear all about Lola, Leo, and their charming books.

She’s such a delight that over the years, we’ve added 4 Lola books to our permanent home library and often check others out from our local public library.

Do you know the Lola books by Anna McQuinn? Or her newer series about Lola’s little brother, Leo? We first discovered Lola a handful of years ago, when I was trying to diversify our bookshelves.

Leo Can Swim by Anna McQuinn