Books Celebrating Diversity
We have seen an influx of books at the moment celebrating diversity and as you know this is something that we love to see on our bookshelves I wanted to share them in a quick review post so that you don't miss any of them!
Maisie's Scrapbook by Samuel Narh & Jo Loring-Fisher
Maisie has a scrapbook of the lovely moments in her family’s life. Her mama and dada come from different places - mama wears linen and plays viola and cooks risotto; dada wears kente cloth, plays the marimba and cooks jollof rice - but they love her and hug her in the same way. Through her dada’s tall tales she develops an imagination and an adventurous spirit but through her mama’s caution she learns to stay safe. Such a lovely story about family life, about raising children and about having a spirited child. With lovely layered illustrations alongside children’s drawings (or drawings in a child-like style) this story does have a scrapbook feel! A lovely story for sharing with children about a biracial family and a must-have for a diverse bookshelf! (Note this isn't released until 7th March).
The Girls by Lauren Ace & Jenny Lovlie
When I read this book for the first time, my eyes welled with tears because it really captures my experience of friendship. It tells the beautiful story of four girls who "were are different as they were they same" and how they were best friends. It shows them developing their own personalities, interests, characters but how they also stuck together through thick and thin. How they celebrate each other's successes, and support each other when things go wrong. And as they grow older, this story follows them from childhood to adulthood, they change and grow but their friendship remains steadfast. The illustrations are so touching and they really show the spice and variety of life! Showing girls of different colours as well as celebrating in different ways and embracing themselves - including all four girls supporting their friend and marching in a Pride parade - this book really celebrates diversity as well as friendship.
What Can a Citizen Do? by Dave Eggers & Shawn Harris
A citizen is not what you are. A citizen is what you do. This book is in equal parts a charming rhyming read aloud as well as an important call to action. Showing children that they have the power to make a difference through a bouncing satisfying rhyming text accompanied by paper-cut illustrations of children working together to create their own community, this is an incredibly empowering book. My only thing, and it's most likely just me, by the time I had said the word "citizen" over and over as it's repeated in the text, it didn't sound right anymore. Anyone else have this issue? Sometimes I have this if I start to overthink a word it just sounds wrong. Anyway, if you want to encourage your children to go out and do good, this book is an excellent inspiration!
We Are Together by Britta Teckentrup
When BookBairn and I achieve something together or she works well with others I always tell her “teamwork makes the dream work”. So much so that she tells her daddy that. So this wonderful poetic picture book about promoting collaboration, inclusion and unity is a wonderful addition to our shelves! (It’s probably rather timely given the political climate too!) We love the intricate collage artwork of Britta Teckentrup and adore the cut-outs which reveal more and more people on each page - starting from a pair and working up to a full page of a crowd! The accompanying text is lyrical in its celebration of togetherness. It’s a lovely one! And one of those books that I’m adding to my “books every classroom should have” list!
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold & Suzanne Kaufman
This book is a celebration as much as it is a story! Following a group of children in their school and throughout their day in school, this book shows a school where diversity it's at it's heart. Everyone is welcome no matter their race, religion or background. this story shares an uplifting celebration of cultural diversity and belonging where all children are welcome in the classroom. With children wearing hijabs, patkas, baseball caps and yarmulkes playing and learning side-by-side the illustrations in the book create a world where all the children belong. With scenes of the children pointing to their family's countries of origin, and the children gathered on the floor in a circle drawing illustrations of families of all sizes and colours and a playground full of happy children having fun together this is a really welcoming book! You will want to jump into the illustrations. The accompanying poem (it's definitely more a poem than a story) lets readers know that what they see in the illustrations is reinforced by the language of the school and community: everyone is welcome, they all have a place, they all have a space, no matter what. The school also has children of a variety of abilities including a blind child who carries a whitestick and a child in a wheelchair, reinforcing the lovely message of inclusion.
Hope you like this 'quick review' format!
Kim
Disclaimer: We were sent all these books free for review purposes by the publishers. Words and opinions are my own. If you click on the title or image of the book you will be sent to amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-70p per book) from amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our 'For Our Readers' section.
These books look great. I’m becoming much more aware of the illustrations in children’s books and, generally, how good they are. I’m hopeless at drawing, always have been, so I’m in awe of people who can. Looking at Maisie’s Scrapbook reminds me of my scrapbook that BookBairn made for my Christmas. It has pride of place by my bedside and I thumb through it regularly. Awesome work. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI adore The Girls, it's been a favourite of mine this year! #readwithme
ReplyDeleteWhat a great selection, I'd love the Britta Teckentrup one, will have to add it to my list to buy #Readwithme
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