Dear Families,

This week I share with you books about inclusion and acceptance.  I found a website, A Day in Our Shoes, which reviews 10 books on the subject.  Please check out the list of book recommendations and add them to your library list.

In searching books for my Nook, I also found another set of books on a site put out by PBS, Six Books to Read to Your Kids that Celebrate Differences and Diverse Lives.  I would add other books, such as these, for a more rounded sense of inclusion;

• Jessica’s Box by Peter Carnavas Ages 5-8  A book about a young girls first day of school.  The main character uses a wheelchair, but the story is about her and not her being differently abled.

• The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen for teens and older. The story of a young girl who loses her leg in a car accident.

• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes Ages 12 +

A twelve-year-old boy, shot by police, meets Emmett Till, another ghost from a very different time but similar circumstances.

• Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes Ages 7-10 a book that covers socioeconomic differences and inclusion.

• My Dad is a Clown, Mi Papá es un Payaso by José Carlos Andrés about a young boy’s pride in his two fathers.

• The Other Boy by MG Hennesey Ages 12-16 about a baseball playing, video game loving, comic book drawing, child living life as a transgender boy.

Books create a ‘window’ into experiences that may differ from our own, offering us new knowledge, or they offer a ‘mirror’ sharing similarities in our lives. Be sure to include both types of books in your home reading with your children.

  I’ll end with a book that could be a possible read aloud for your family, Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman, a short children’s novel.  This book is told from the viewpoints of many diverse characters living on the same street in Cleveland, Ohio. As they transform an empty lot, they also each experience personal transformations.  Reading this aloud could offer many conversation starters on how to be mutually respectful in our great big world.

May the cold, crisp, fall weather create snugly moments of reading in your home.

Angie