We found "Come on Rain" by Karen Hesse at the library and fell in love. It's a book very much in the same vein as "The Snowy Day"-- just kids being kids and experiencing the ordinary in the most beautiful way possible.
It's run by African-American authors and recommends high-quality books featuring characters of color. Some of the books celebrate their origins/culture but others are just good books that feature people of color.
Jacqueline Woodson is an excellent author for books featuring African Americans. Rita Williams-Garcia is a good author as well.
Seriously, everyone has to check out that website!
Thank you for this website! My DD is 9 and there's some great books listed on the site for her age group.
I'm coming into this thread super late, but man, I WISH my biggest issue with finding books DD can relate to is the kind of physical structures the kids in the books live in.
(@dontcallmeshirley1 , this is what you get when you tag me!)
I just want to be clear here that I'm trying to avoid a library of white kids in suburban settings and POC in urban settings. I'm not trying to make sure that they can relate to kids are in ranches like ours, I'm trying to make sure they don't get the idea that there are any areas where POC don't "belong". Our home setting is white kids in suburbia, which is 100% a failing on our part and also something I'm trying to compensate for with media, which is why I'm particularly cognizant of it.
Leo: A Ghost Story has the ghost boy in the title move into Jane's house; it's never mentioned in the text but Jane and her family are black. It's not one of my favorites by this duo but the family in Robo-Sauce looks like they live in a house the way the space in illustrated.
Post by SpartanGirl on Sept 23, 2016 8:22:08 GMT -5
There are some great recommendations here - adding so many to my book list.
For the older kids, my dance obsessed daughter loved The Sugar Plum Ballerinas. My oldest really enjoyed One Crazy Summer. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is one of our favorite books too.
Another one I just remembered is Rachel Isadora's Hansel and Gretel. She moves the classic fairy tale from a European forest to an African jungle and it's just wonderful and a bit more terrifying to see such tiny children in the scary jungle at night.
I went into the kids' rooms to have a look at books this morning. Many have already been mentioned above, so I'll focus on others.
I Had a Favorite Dress is a beloved book of DD's that is sweet and beautiful and well-illustrated and that she didn't tire of reading over and over again between ages 4-6.
This one is also cute and was a DD favorite around age 3 or 4. It's part of a series of little boys and girls doing different things, but I can't track this specific one down in English translation (but it does exist in Spanish and Portuguese translation, although not currently available through Amazon).
pescalita, I'm still thinking about your houses question. I flipped through a few picture books this morning and a lot of them have scenes in different rooms, without showing an entire house or indicating whether it's an apartment or what. I guess I never just assume it's a house, but I can see how that's the default if you live in/grew up in a SFH.
In any event, a good one to explore the different kinds of homes people live in is Maisons du Monde, another past DD favorite. It has a lot of flaps, so my 2-yo DS is still too young for it. We bought our copy in France, but the Amazon listing says it's bilingual (our copy is not).
Here are some pics from the inside of it:
My only caveat about this one is that you may end up having to explain to your child that not everyone in Amsterdam lives on a houseboat, etc.
The magical school bus is a good series too. It features a diverse class of kids. The books are pretty long though.
We ADORE the Magic School Bus books and show in our house. DS is science crazy and these are some of his favorites from the library. The one where they learn about all the layers of the Earth is the one I have to return under the cover of night because he will know.
I swear that I am also working today, but I am a little obsessed with this house/apartment/where kids live thing. Just noticed the book Home by Carson Ellis
"Home might be a house in the country, an apartment in the city, or even a shoe. Home may be on the road or the sea, in the realm of myth, or in the artist’s own studio. A meditation on the concept of home and a visual treat that invites many return visits, this loving look at the places where people live marks the picture-book debut of Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of the Wildwood series and artist for the indie band the Decemberists."
I wasn't around when this was originally posted, but I'm glad it came back up. Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. In addition to things that have already been posted, my kids have really enjoyed:
More, more, more said the baby by Vera B. Williams, which includes a few different families
A chair for my mother by Vera B. Williams about a Latino family rebuilding after a fire
The quickest kid in Clarksville by Pat Zeitlow Murray, which does have some direct links to race through the protagonist's admiration for and desire to see Wilma Rudolph
Carlos and the squash plant by Jan Romero Stevens about a kid who won't wash behind his ears. This book definitely introduces cultural topics (it's written in Spanish and English) but is mainly about the ridiculous idea that a squash could grow in your ear if you don't wash
Carlos and the squash plant by Jan Romero Stevens about a kid who won't wash behind his ears. This book definitely introduces cultural topics (it's written in Spanish and English) but is mainly about the ridiculous idea that a squash could grow in your ear if you don't wash
This reminds me of page @pagina and the mushroom growing on a foot thing she mentioned once. (Which I responded to by asking if the kid was a Spanish-speaker because "hongo" means both mushroom and athlete's foot.)
I'm glad this got bumped. We have a bunch of the younger kid books people have mentioned but I'm bookmarking many for future shopping.
I was going to suggest Gyo Fujikawa's toddler books, but apparently they're out of print. They don't focus on specific kids or families, but there's a ton of diversity in terms of kids that are represented. Still good if you want to buy anything used.
If anyone is interested, here's a list of books that include queer families, for a different aspect of diversity. Some of them include families of color. LGBTQ kids books
Post by curbsideprophet on Sept 23, 2016 20:03:23 GMT -5
I missed this thread the first time around. Glad to hear people recommending Last Stop on Market Street. I just ordered that along with Gaston and Rain from DD's book fair at school.
For anyone shopping Scholastic reading club they have We Need Diverse books, Club Leo en Espanol and an Election Collection in their online collections.
My kids both love The Hello Goodbye Window, which features biracial grandparents and an AA protagonist. It is a cute story about a little girl's days hanging out at her grandparents' house, with adorable illustrations. I'd say 3-6 are the best ages for enjoying it.
My son loves this book! It's so hard to find biracial families in kids books so I was thrilled that he liked it so much.
The magical school bus is a good series too. It features a diverse class of kids. The books are pretty long though.
We ADORE the Magic School Bus books and show in our house. DS is science crazy and these are some of his favorites from the library. The one where they learn about all the layers of the Earth is the one I have to return under the cover of night because he will know.
We read the one where go through the solar system tonight
Post by janetplanet20 on Sept 23, 2016 22:29:01 GMT -5
The Scholastic book orders has a whole catalog devoted to diverse books, called We Need Diverse Books! I recently ordered several books from them for my classroom.
Post by EnchantedSoul on Sept 25, 2016 10:41:50 GMT -5
Guys, it REALLY IS happening. I'm at my local bookstore and there are brown faces everywhere. When the call for We Need Diverse Books came, people answered. There have always been POC authors, they were just having trouble getting published. I write children's lit for myself and am often in the library or bookstore doing research. These books are all in the featured section, meaning they are up front and being showcased. Sorry for the ramble but I am just so happy that there are children of color in these books and they're just regular ol' characters. This is a big deal. Also, buy this book: Ada Twist Scientist. It's awesome.
Guys, it REALLY IS happening. I'm at my local bookstore and there are brown faces everywhere. When the call for We Need Diverse Books came, people answered. There have always been POC authors, they were just having trouble getting published. I write children's lit for myself and am often in the library or bookstore doing research. These books are all in the featured section, meaning they are up front and being showcased. Sorry for the ramble but I am just so happy that there are children of color in these books and they're just regular ol' characters. This is a big deal. Also, buy this book: Ada Twist Scientist. It's awesome.
This is so awesome. I am so glad that those books are being featured. It's about damn time!
I am going to get DD2 Ada Twist, Scientist for Christmas. Our local library hasn't bought it yet, which makes me sad.
Post by berrysweet on Sept 26, 2016 19:25:51 GMT -5
Just wanted to add in that my daughter (1st grade) came home from school with a special Scholastic Reading Club flyer that's a partnership with We Need Diverse Books. This is apparently not the first partnership, but it's the first time I've actually seen the flyer come home.
I don't know how to link the flyer itself, but if you're a member of Scholastic Reading Club, you can log in and find it under "shop flyer" and then "special collections". There's one for grades Pre-K-3rd, and then another for grades 4-8.
Titles for the Pre-K to 3rd grade include things like: Thunder Boy Jr. Noodle Magic A Chair for My Mother Alvin Ho Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon What Does It Mean to Be an Entrepreneur? One Family Lola Levine is Not Mean Redwoods Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors The Hundred Dresses
Titles for 4th-8th grade include things like: Esperanza Rising Save Me a Seat How I Became a Ghost Girl, Stolen Kizzy Ann Stamps Ghosts Bayou Magic Rad American Women A-Z The Way Home Looks Now Somewhere Among Echo George Making Friends with Billy Wong All American Boys (this one looks REALLY interesting: "Rashad is mistaken for a shoplifter and when the cop on the scene thinks he's resisting arrest, things get violent. The primary witness? Rashad's classmate Quinn--who was raised by the policeman.")
Mu daughter just brought home two more books from the school library with children of color. "Amazing Grace" by Mary Hoffman and "The Hello, Goodbye Window" by Norton Juster which has an interracial family.
Can anyone recommend books featuring jewish kids or families, where the whole point of the book isn't Judaism/"WE'RE JEWISH!!"? I have a decent library of jewish books, but they are all holiday-themed (passover, sukkot, tu b'shevat) and I'd like my kids to see in books that jewish kids are "regular" kids.
Can anyone recommend books featuring jewish kids or families, where the whole point of the book isn't Judaism/"WE'RE JEWISH!!"? I have a decent library of jewish books, but they are all holiday-themed (passover, sukkot, tu b'shevat) and I'd like my kids to see in books that jewish kids are "regular" kids.
I read these books as a kid. It's a bout a Jewish family and the Jewish faith/holidays are discussed but it's mainly just about their family and life. They talk about school and chores, playing with friends, walking down to the corner store for crackers and cheese and candy with their pocket money that kind of thing. It's set 1900s/pre-WWI so don't know if it's what you are looking for and honestly it's been so long since I read them that I can't promise there isn't Little House type issues (published 1984 so I would hope not but I am from a red bubble so my 8-10 yr old self may not have caught stuff.) The books were good as far as writing/story goes.