US minorities underrepresented in children's books

This summer the US Census Bureau announced that for the first time, half of American children under the age of five belonged to a racial or ethnic minority group.

The agency projected that in the US, whites would become a minority of under-fives this year or next.

Yet a study, external of children's literature by the Cooperative Children's Book Center in Wisconsin has found that the fictional world depicted in the books American children read does not reflect that real-world diversity.

Out of 3,600 books received by the centre, only 119 had significant African or African-American content, and just 59 were written by Latino authors or illustrators.

The BBC's Franz Strasser asks if that disparity matters and what the book industry can do about it.

Altered States is a series of video features published every Wednesday on the BBC News website which examine how shifting demographics and economic conditions affect America on a local level.