Origin Story

Popinjay Press was founded by me! April Pearson-Decklever! (she/her) I’m a proud mom and stepmom who wanted to see diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in the children's books I read to my kids. When I couldn’t find any books representing my unique family dynamic, I decided to create my own!

But I didn't stop there. I brought on amazing, wonderful, talented collaborators and formed Popinjay Press in 2022. Sharing a creative vision, love of children and passion for social justice, we are as proud as popinjays to offer you a growing library that celebrates DEIB in children's books.

With the option to feature single parents, same-sex parents, nonbinary characters, people of color and more, Popinjay Press books can be customized to represent virtually every family dynamic in existence. And our colorful, imaginative, funny stories help every child take pride in their wonderfully unique family.

I chose Popinjay Press for our company name because popinjays are proud, vibrant creatures with light hearts and quirky personalities — sound like a family you know?

Here's an incomplete list of resources shaping my worldview:

Books for adults

Ain't I a Woman by bell hooks
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Disability Visibility by Alice Wong
Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen by Michelle Icard
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Introduction to Internal Family Systems by Richard Schwartz
James by Percival Everett
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett
Sincerely, Your Autistic Child by Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Surviving the Death of a Sibling by T.J. Wray
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel Siegel
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Unmasking Autism by Devon Price
White Feminism by Koa Beck
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
Why Won't You Apologize? by Harriet Lerner

Books for kids

A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliott
Blink, Plue & Colorful You by Kathleen Latlip
Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson
Elephant & Piggie (series) by Mo Willems
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Rebel Girls
Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
I Am Violet by Tania Duprey Stehlik
I AM: Affirmations for Resilience by Bela Barbosa
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pe ña
Little Dreamers, Little Leaders and Little Legends (series) by Vashti Harrison
Little People, Big Dreams (series) by Maria Isabel S ánchez Vegara
Little Visionaries (series) by Mudpuppy Books
Maiden & Princess and Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack
Melissa (previously published as George) by Alex Gino
Our Rainbow by Little Bee Books
Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, et al.
The Hate U Give and On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
This Little Collection (series) by Joan Holub
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carol Boston Weatherford
Wings by Christopher Myers

Podcasts / videos

1619 Project
Code Switch
Diversity Deep Dive
Feminist Founders
If Books Could Kill
Maintenance Phase
Talking Race with Young Children
The Neurodivergent Woman

Newsletters

Arturo Dominguez
Rebecca A. Eldredge
Lyz Lenz
Toi Smith
Lucy Webster

Websites