Diversity in Children's Literature

Thank you for stopping by She Reads Books today. I am so thrilled you decided to stop by! Another one of my favorite quotes is from Lena Dunham and it reads,“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” This quote could not be more fitting for my busy schedule as the busy semester begins to come to an end. These days I find it hard to make time for myself but this quote reminds me that I need to try and make time for myself each day, even if it is for a few minutes. Today I will be sharing with you five diversity children's books and I will also be sharing how I would use them in my future classroom. I hope you enjoy my picks!

Book #1: All My Stripes: A Story for Children With Autism by Danielle Royer and Shaina Rudolph

Book Review: All My Stripes is such a cute story! It is about a zebra named Zane, who has autism, and he is upset because no one in his class understands him or understands why he reacts the way he does to certain things, so when he gets home, he tells his mother about his bad day. He tells her that his classmates were making fun of him in art class, he was left in the room alone while the fire alarm went off, and how he did not know how to approach others without seeming awkward. Zane goes on to ask his mother why everyone only sees his “autism stripe” and nothing else about him. She tells him that he would not be the same zebra if even one stripe of his was missing. She then explains why she likes each of his stripes and why they make him who he is. As she explained his stripes, Zane began to fill better about himself and he began to love himself again. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it teaches them to be kind to others and that words do hurt others.

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud in the beginning of the year to discuss that words can be negative if you use them the wrong way, but when we use them the right way, we can make someone’s day. One lesson idea I have for this book is for my students to be split into groups and make a skit based on how words impact others (negatively and positively). This will help them with their writing and grammar skills but also with their communication and public speaking skills. In addition, this will also teach the other students who are not performing their skit to be respectful to others.   

Below I have attached a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the story!

Read-Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gaLxpifMc

Book #2: Dear Juno by Soyung Pak

Book Review: Dear Juno may be a little complex of a read for some early readers, but it is nonetheless a great story! It is about a little boy named Juno who receives letters in the mail from his grandmother. They communicate through letters and pictures across long distances. His grandmother writes in Korean to him and he does not understand what she is trying to tell him, but he can understand what she is trying to tell him by the pictures that she sends to him with the letters. Juno replies to her letters by sending her small items and drawings of him doing various activities. He sent her one drawing of him watching an airplane fly by to show her that he wants her to visit him soon. She replies back by sending him a paper airplane to let him know that she will be visiting soon, and she also sends him coloring pencils to encourage him to send her more drawings. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it shows how people can communicate between each other when there are barriers. 

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to discuss aspects of diversity and to explain to my students that even through barriers, they can still communicate with their classmates. I would like to incorporate a writing activity to go along with this book. The students would write in at least a paragraph about how they would communicate with their peers if one of them had a hearing impairment, spoke in another language, or had another impairment.

Below I have attached the author's Twitter and a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the author or the story itself!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoyungPak?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Read-Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9yXDqL0USA

Book #3: I Hate English! by Ellen Levine

Book Review: I Hate English! is such a beautiful story! It is about Mei Mei, an immigrant girl from Hong Kong. Her and her family moved to Chinatown in New York and Mei Mei loves Chinatown because everyone speaks Chinese just like her. However, everyone in school speaks English. This makes Mei Mei reluctant to attend school and to associate with anyone but her friends, who also speak Chinese. Mei Mei is afraid that she will forget her native language, Chinese, so she decides to not speak in English. However, by the end of the story, Mei Mei is speaking in both languages because her teacher tells her that she can speak both languages all the while still staying true to her roots. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it shows the struggles of students who move from a different part of the country or the world to a new, unfamiliar place.  

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to discuss how students may feel when they move to a new school. The student may not always speak a different language but there are other things that may make them leery of a new school. I would like to have a discussion with my students about the meaning of this book and I would also like them to explain to me in a paragraph how they would make new students in our class feel welcome. 

Below I have attached a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the story!

Read-Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1PnhF0-x6c 

Book #4: Last Stop on Market Street by Matthew de la Peña

Book Review: Last Stop on Market Street is a short read for young children. It is about a little African American boy named CJ and his grandma. They always ride the bus across town every Sunday after church, but one day, CJ wondered why his family does not own a car like his friend Colby’s family does. He also wonders why he does not have other material things and why they have to walk to the bus stop in the rain. Every time he asks his grandmother why they do not have certain things, she responds by telling him something encouraging and that in return, helps him see beauty in the simplest things in life. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it truly shows a real socioeconomic situation and how CJ and his family do not have material things like other families around them. 

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to discuss how every student’s life is different and how it is okay if we do not have certain, “popular” things just because someone around us may have it. I would like the students to fill out character charts for CJ and his grandma and explain how both of them or maybe just one of them changed by the end of the story.

Below I have attached the author's website and a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the author or the story itself!

Website: https://mattdelapena.com/ 

Read-Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6CWvW_5-s  

Book #5: My Religion, Your Religion by Lisa Bullard

Book Review: My Religion, Your Religion is a cute story with beautiful illustrations. It is about a boy named David who learns about different religions. The story begins by his friend inviting him to a synagogue. His dad tells him that their beliefs are different from Judaism beliefs but that does not matter. He tells David that what matters is that they show respect when they visit the synagogue. David learns about different aspects of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam throughout the story. He also learns from a little girl at a soup kitchen that you do not need to be a part of a religion to be kind and helpful toward other people. I recommend this book to any teacher and parent to read to their students and children because it teaches them about other religions that people may practice around them but it also teaches them to be respectful of those other religions around them even if they do not practice or believe in them.      

Lesson Idea: In my future classroom, I would love to use this book as a read-aloud to discuss and teach different religions but also to teach my students to be respectful of others’ beliefs even if they do not agree with the beliefs. Another lesson idea I have for this book is for my students to write in a paragraph what they believe in or what their family believes in (it does not have to be a religion). This will help with their grammar skills, public speaking skills, and help them be respectful to others beliefs.

Below I have attached the author's website and a link to a read-aloud of the story in case you wanted to check out the author or the story itself!

Website: https://www.lisabullard.com/

Read-Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtLP6vFomc8 

I hope that you enjoyed my book reviews and lesson ideas. I hope you consider adding all five books to your classroom library if you have not already!

Happy Reading,

Ashley