This New Children’s Book Aims to Address Undercounting of Kids in the 2020 Census

As the deadline for filling out the 2020 census approaches on, actress and Moana star Auliʻi Cravalho and the nonprofit Simply Put — which creates engaging learning experiences for parents — are coming together to reach the young families that have traditionally been undercounted by the census. Cravalho stars in a new video storytime session in which she reads WE COUNT! A 2020 Census Counting Book for Young Children (and the Grownups Who Love Them), an illustrated book that tells the story of several modern-day families from different cultures who live in cities across the United States, while walking readers through the process of filling out their census forms.

Simply Put executive director Lisa Bernstein tells the FBomb the nonprofit was inspired to write the book after learning about the extent to which young children were undercounted in the 2010 census; in fact, she said, children under age 5 were the most undercounted demographic in the country in 2010. According to Bernstein, it is estimated that at least 2 million children are expected to be left out of the census this year.

This undercounting occurs for a variety of reasons, including many parents not realizing that their non-school-aged children should be included in the count. Bernstein also notes that many undocumented families are also reluctant to fill out the census due to fears of being reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “The stories of immigration that are happening in the country right now have made it so that the last thing anybody who feels marginalized and vulnerable wants to do is be counted,” Bernstein noted.

The FBomb had the chance to talk with Bernstein about the new book, the importance of the census, and how families can throw their own virtual pajama party using the new Auliʻi Cravalho video.

Why are so many young children undercounted on the census?

When children are undercounted, it is not always because their parents didn’t take the census, but [can] also [be] because a lot of people didn’t realize they should count their younger children. We think that is primarily because these children aren’t in school yet, so they didn’t realize that they counted on the census.

Most of the families that didn’t count their children came from traditionally marginalized communities, and many times they are immigrants or non-English-speaking people living in poverty. One of the things that really struck me about this population was that they came from very complex living arrangements; sometimes families weren’t counting their kids because [of these] situations.

What kinds of living arrangements are those?

For example, the kids would sometimes live with their grandparents for part of the week and then with their mom for the rest, so people didn't know where to count them. But one of the marvelous things about America is that we are all living in complicated families. But we don’t really share stories about those complicated families in children’s books or in the media in general. So we need to reflect that and the joy in that while also giving people comprehensive information about why the census is important.

How did Auliʻi Cravalho get involved in the animated version of the book?

When COVID happened, we immediately started trying to think of fun ways people could connect virtually. The whole time we were like ‘Gee, it would be great to animate this, but we need to find a celebrity to narrate it.’

I’ve become such a big Auliʻi Cravalho fan now — she is a fabulous person and very outspoken on Twitter and very supportive of immigrants’ rights. I think that she knocked it out of the park; there is so much joy in that reading.

How do you explain the importance of filling out the census to those who may be confused about that?

The census is not political; it is just having a count of everyone in the country. How we explain it in the beginning of the book is that it is like if you want to throw a party. You need to know how many people are coming and what they like to eat, so you would ask them. That way, you would have the information to make an informed decision.

If we don’t fill out the census, we’re missing out on counting children that we need to know are in that community. [This count is necessary] so that the community gets the money they need for things like education, school lunches programs, and child Medicaid programs. So it’s about giving people comprehensive information about why this is important. We also teach people about how Census Bureau employees take a vow, and they can be fined or sent to prison if they share individual personal Census data with anyone.

How have librarians and child care providers been using the book?

The book has been translated into 15 languages, and we created an entire event kit so that people could throw events and come together and have story time, take the census together, and do early childhood activities. But then, of course, there was COVID, which obviously changed the census in a huge way.

We created the book while talking to child care providers and families and educators, and it became clear that those were the people community members trusted the most. But it also became clear in our discussions with early childhood and health care people that they didn’t know very much about the census and were nervous about talking about it because it was a topic outside their expertise.

That’s why we started developing a training program for teachers, librarians, and a whole bunch of different community members that work with families. We talked with them about what the census was, and that was what helped us create the book. They can now use the book to start those conversations in their role as trusted advisors in the community.

The book also makes clear that the census is also about the fabric of America. Is that also a part of why it is so important?

The other part of the question around the census is the one of ‘Who does count in America?’ America is stronger and better when we all count. Diversity is what has always made us stronger. Being counted in the census is a way of saying, ‘I am here and I count,’ both in the census and in the story of America.

Readers can download “WE COUNT! A 2020 Census Counting Book for Young Children (and the Grownups Who Love Them)” here and check out the special pajama party toolkit here. To fill out your household’s 2020 census, head to 2020census.gov.