Celebrate Diversity With These 3 Books for Young Readers
Give the gift of acceptance this holiday season with these three books that celebrate diversity and multicultural neighbors.
"Happy in Our Skin" by Fran Manushkin
With delightful rhyming text and vibrant illustrations of multicultural families mingling in urban neighborhoods, Manuskin’s book is a real treat for the littlest ones (ages birth to five) and their caregivers to enjoy again and again. Whether your baby’s skin tone is “cocoa brown, cinnamon, and honey gold” or “peaches and cream,” each page depicts people of all different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds interacting as one loving community. Additionally, this story celebrates the importance of our skin, which protects our bodies, is great for tickling, and makes us all unique.
"Mango, Abuela, and Me" by Meg Medina
Chosen as the 2016 Pura Belpré Author and Illustrator Award honor book, this school age picture book beautifully celebrates the Latino culture. When Mia’s “far-away grandmother” comes to live with her family, Mia must quickly learn how to communicate with her abuela whose English is “too poquito” to carry on a conversation. Inspired by a red feather from a wild parrot who roosted in her grandmother’s mango trees, Mia purchases another feathered friend in hopes that this parrot might help bridge their language barrier.
"Save me a Seat" by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
Ravi, a newcomer from India who use to be the smartest in his class, and Joe, a native New Jerseyan who suffers from auditory processing disorder, meet for the first time in class at Albert Einstein Elementary School. Told in alternating first person perspective from both boys during the first week of school, this co-authored novel realistically captures the struggles of two fifth grade misfits who discover they have more in common than they first thought. Whether it's Ravi who’s bullied for his accent and shunned by the most popular kid in school, or Joe who’s chronically babied by his overbearing mother, many preteen readers will identify with these ageless middle school struggles told in a fresh new way.
