Elementary Books & Media Resources
|
Additional Pages
General ELEM Fiction and Nonfiction ELEM Podcasts, Video Lists and Professional Development 2019 and 2020 titles are noted in PURPLE. They are not yet as widely reviewed.
Scroll down for books on these topics:
RACIAL JUSTICE
POETRY Browne, Mahogany L. Elizabeth Acevedo, and Olivia Gatwood. Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice. Roaring Brook, 2020. “What does it mean to be woke? Simply put, “to be WOKE is to understand that equality and justice for some is not equality and justice at all.” In this poetry collection, Browne, accompanied by Elizabeth Acevedo and Olivia Gatwood. Devenney, Jenny. Race Cars: A children's book about white privilege. Jenny Devenny, 2016. “Race Cars is a children's book about white privilege. It was created to serve as a springboard for parents and educators to facilitate tough conversations with their kids about race, privilege and oppression. Race Cars tells the story of 2 best friends, a white car and a black car, that have different experiences and face different rules while entering the same race.” FIC Higginbotham, Anastasia. Not My Idea, A Book about Whiteness. Dottir, 2018. “[A] picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice.” NONFIC Johnson, Chelsea. Intersection Allies: We Make Room for All. Dottir, 2019. “The nine interconnected characters proudly describe themselves and their backgrounds, involving topics that range from a physical disability to language brokering, offering an opportunity to take pride in a personal story and connect to collective struggle for justice.” NONFIC Morretta, Alison. Standing Up to Hate Speech. Cavendish Square, 2018. “Advises young readers on how to overcome their discomfort and let others know in a non-confrontational way that hate speech is wrong.” NONFIC Rappaport, Doreen. TRILOGY. NONFIC -- Free at Last!: Stories and Songs of Emancipation. Candlewick, 2003. “True stories and traditional songs shed light on a lesser known era in African-American history - the crucial decades between Emancipation and the start of the Civil Rights movement.” --No More!: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance. Candlewick, 2005. “True vignettes and traditional verse, set against starkly powerful images, tell the story of enslaved Africans in America as it has never been told before.” --Nobody Gonna Turn Me Round Stories & Songs of the Civil Rights Movement. Candlewick, 2006. “[A] look at both famous and lesser-known forces in the ongoing struggle for civil rights.” “[A] tribute to the crusaders for equality and peace in America…] Reynolds, Peter. Say Something!. Orchard, 2019. “The world needs your voice. If you have a brilliant idea... say something! If you see an injustice... say something!” NONFIC Rhodes, Jewell Parker. Black Brother, Black Brother. Little, Brown, Mar. 2020. “ great addition to the middle school “betwixt” category. Rhodes shares the plight of colorism, overpolicing of marginalized students, and unfair punishment for Black male students. Though the content is heavy, the deft writing will appeal to young readers and offers ways for young activists to effect change. NONFIC Rippon, Jo. Rise Up! The Art of Protest. Charlesbridge, 2020. “Human rights belong to every single one of us, but they are often under threat. Developed in collaboration with Amnesty International, Rise Up! encourages young people to engage in peaceful protest and stand up for freedom.” NONFIC Rogers, Amy B. What’s Racism. Kidhaven, 2018. “Provides information on racial inequality, whether races actually exist, stereotyping, historical developments, the role of fear in stimulating prejudice, recent developments, and the importance of communication across group boundaries.” NONFIC ACTIVISM
Berlak, Ann. Joelito’s Big Decision/La Gran Decision de Joelito. Hardball, 2015. “When he finds his best friend standing outside MacMann's with his parents protesting for higher wages, Joelito has to choose between a juicy burger and standing with his friend.” FIC Cohn, Diana. Si Se Puede/Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A. (English and Spanish Edition). Cinco Puntos, 2008. “[A] bilingual fictional story set against the backdrop of the successful janitors’ strike in Los Angeles in 2000... about Carlitos, whose mother is a janitor.” FIC Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. Simon & Schuster, 2000. “Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type. All day long he hears: Click, clack, moo. …[And he] has a labor problem when his cows go on strike.” FIC Elliott, Zette. Milo’s Museum. Create Space, 2016. “Milo is excited about her class trip to the museum. The docent leads them on a tour and afterward Milo has time to look around on her own. But something doesn’t feel right, and Milo gradually realizes that the people from her community are missing from the museum. When her aunt urges her to find a solution, Milo takes matters into her own hands and opens her own museum!” The link includes teaching suggestions. FIC Hale, Nathan. The Underground Abductor: An Abolitionist Tale About Harriet Tubman (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #5). Amulet, 2015. “Araminta Ross was born a slave in Delaware in the early 19th century. Slavery meant that her family could be ripped apart at any time, and that she could be put to work in dangerous places and for abusive people. But north of the Mason-Dixon line, slavery was illegal. If she could run away and make it north without being caught or killed, she'd be free. Facing enormous danger, Araminta made it, and once free, she changed her name to Harriet Tubman. Tubman spent the rest of her life helping slaves run away like she did, every time taking her life in her hands.” GRAPHIC BIOG; SLAVERY; UNDERGROUND RR; ABOLITION Krishnaswami, Uma. Book Uncle and Me. Groundwood, 2016. “Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library next to her apartment building. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety book-stand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something….And so the children get to work, launching a campaign to make sure the voices of the community are heard.” FIC Lewis, Barbara A. The kid's guide to social action: how to solve the social problems you choose -- and turn creative thinking into positive action. Free Spirit, 1998. NONFIC Lionni, Leo. Nadarin/Swimmy. Knopf, 1963. “A clever little fish named Nadarin, the only black fish in a school of red ones, devises a way to protect them all from their natural enemies.” BIOG Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table. Readers to Eaters, 2013. "[Will had] seen that fresh vegetables were as scarce in the city as trout in the desert. Will believed everyone, everywhere, had a right to good food. But how could Will farm in the middle of pavement and parking lots?" BIOG Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. Someday is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins. Seagrass Press, 2018. “How will you stand against something you know is wrong? One way is to follow the lessons of bravery taught by civil rights pioneers like Clara Luper.” Thomas, Shelley Moor. Somewhere Today. Whitman, 1998. “Somewhere in the world each day, people just like you are acting in kind, peaceful, loving ways. Perhaps they are visiting “ NONFIC Weatherford, Carole. Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins. Penguin, 2007. “When four courageous black teens sat down at a lunch counter in the segregated South of 1960, the reverberations were felt both far beyond and close to home. This insightful story offers a child's-eye view of this seminal event in the American Civil Rights Movement.” NONFIC EXPLAINING TRAUMA
Celano, Marianne et al. Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice. Magination Press, 2018. The story follows two families — one White, one Black — as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives. NONFIC VOTING
Bandy, Michael S. Granddaddy's Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box. Candlewick, 2015. “Based on the true story of one familys struggle for voting rights in the civil rights-era South, this moving tale shines an emotional spotlight on a dark facet of U.S. history.” Civil Rights Era HISTORICAL FIC Battle-Lavetr, Gwendolyn. Papa’s Mark. Holiday House, 2003. “With Election Day just around the corner, Simms excitedly begins teaching his father how to sign his name so that his father's first voting experience can be as proud and exciting as every other free man.” Civil Rights Era HISTORICAL FIC Dionne, Evette. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box. Viking, 2020. “In 1904, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWC) established the motto “lifting as we climb.” Though the NACWC’s goals included suffrage for Black women, the vote was just one piece of the puzzle; they saw it as a tool they could use to improve the lives of all African Americans.” 20th Century NONFIC Littlesugar, Amy. Freedom School, Yes!. Philomel, 2001. “T[]his triumphant story based on the 1964 Mississippi Freedom School Summer Project, celebrate[s] the strength of a people, and the bravery of one young girl who didn't let being scared get in her way.” Civil Rights Era HISTORICAL FIC Winter, Jonah. Lillian’s Right to Vote. Schwartz and Wade, 2015. “An elderly African American woman, en route to vote, remembers her family’s tumultuous voting history in this picture book publishing in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” Civil Rights Era HISTORICAL FIC COMMUNITY
Chung, Arree. Mixed, A Colorful Story. Holt, 2018. “The reds, the yellows, and the blues all think they're the best in this vibrant, thought-provoking picture book from Arree Chung, with a message of acceptance and unity.” FIC Dismondy, Maria. Chocolate Milk, Por Favor: Celebrating Diversity with Empathy. Cardinal Rule Press, 2015. “It's Gabe's first day of school in America, and he doesn't speak English. This story shows how a simple act of kindness is worth more than a thousand words. Kindness really is a universal language.” FIC Fox, Mem. Whoever You Are. HMH, 2006. “Every day all over the world, children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same. They may not speak the same language. Their lives may be quite different. But inside, they are all alike.” NONFIC Lyons, Kelly Starling. Going Down Home with Daddy. Peachtree, 2019. “Down home is Granny's house. Down home is where Lil Alan and his parents and sister will join great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Down home is where Lil Alan will hear stories of the ancestors and visit the land that has meant so much to all of them. And down home is where all of the children will find their special way to pay tribute to family history. All the kids have to decide on what tribute to share, but what will Lil Alan do?” Caldecott Honor. FIC Penfold, Alexandra. All Are Welcome. Orchard, 2019. “Follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where students from all backgrounds learn from and celebrate each other's traditions. A school that shows the world as we will make it to be. FIC ECONOMIC PRIVILEGE
Brandt, Lois. Maddi’s Fridge. Flashlight Press, 2014. “Best friends Sofia and Maddi live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, and play in the same park, but while Sofia’s fridge at home is full of nutritious food, the fridge at Maddi’s house is empty.“ FIC Boelts, Maribeth. A Bike Like Sergio’s. Candlewick, 2016. “Ruben feels like he is the only kid without a bike. His friend Sergio reminds him that his birthday is coming, but Ruben knows that the kinds of birthday gifts he and Sergio receive are not the same. After all, when Ruben’s mom sends him to Sonny’s corner store for groceries, sometimes she doesn’t have enough money for everything on the list. So when Ruben sees a dollar bill fall out of someone’s purse, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket.” FIC Gunning, Monica. A Shelter in Our Car. Children’s Book Press, 2004. “Zettie and her Mama left their warm and comfortable home in Jamaica for an uncertain life in the United States. With Papa gone, Mama can't find a steady job that will sustain them and so they are forced to live in their car. But Mama's unwavering love, support, and gutsy determination give Zettie the confidence that, together, she and her mother can meet all challenges.” FIC |
George Floyd mural, Houston TX, July 2020. Photo by Dorcas Hand.
SELF-IMAGE
Alexander, Kwame. The Undefeated. HMH, 2019. “]An] ode to inspiring African American heroes in the fields of sport, the arts, and political activism, as well as everyday champions whose very survival exemplifies success.” Dismondy, Maria. Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to Be Who You Are. Cardinal Rule Press, 2008. “How can Ralph be so mean? Lucy is one of a kind and Ralph loves to point that out. Lucy's defining moment comes when Ralph truly needs help. Because she knows what she stands for, Lucy has the courage to make a good choice. This charming story empowers children to always do the right thing and be proud of themselves.” NONFIC Gupta, Jyoti. Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color. Colo(u)Rism Project, 2019. “an activity book for children that thoughtfully addresses everyday skin color consciousness and bias in a way that's easy to understand.” NONFIC Lisa, W. Nikola. Bein With You This Way. Lee & Low, 2013. “An African American girl and her friends play together and learn that despite their physical differences, they are all really the same.” FIC POETRY Pinkney, Sanda L. Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children. Cartwheel, 2006. “I am Black / I am Unique / I am the creamy white frost in vanilla ice cream / and the milky smooth brown in a chocolate bar… Using simple poetic language and stunning photographs, Sandra and Myles Pinkney have created a remarkable book of affirmation for African-American children.” Woodson, Jacqueline. Harbor Me. Penguin, 2018. “It all starts when six kids have to meet for a weekly chat--by themselves, with no adults to listen in. There, in the room they soon dub the ARTT Room (short for "A Room to Talk"), they discover it's safe to talk about what's bothering them--everything from Esteban's father's deportation and Haley's father's incarceration to Amari's fears of racial profiling and Ashton's adjustment to his changing family fortunes.” FIC HAIR
Barnes, Derrick. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. Agate Bolden, 2017. “The barbershop is where the magic happens. Boys go in as lumps of clay and, with princely robes draped around their shoulders, a dab of cool shaving cream on their foreheads, and a slow, steady cut, they become royalty.“ FIC Cabrera, Cozbi A. My Hair Is a Garden. Whitman, 2018. “After a day of being taunted by classmates about her unruly hair, Mackenzie can't take any more and she seeks guidance from her wise and comforting neighbor, Miss Tillie. Using the beautiful garden in the backyard as a metaphor, Miss Tillie shows Mackenzie that maintaining healthy hair is not a chore nor is it something to fear. Most importantly, Mackenzie learns that natural black hair is beautiful.” FIC Diouf, Sylviane A. Bintou’s Braids. Chronicle, 2001. “Bintou wants braids. Long, pretty braids, woven with gold coins and seashells, just like her older sister and the other women in her family. But she is too young for braids. Instead, all she has are four little tufts of hair; all she ever gets are cornrows.” FIC Freeman, Mylo. Hair It’s a Family Affair. Cassava Republic Press, 2019. “A celebration of natural hair, through the vibrant and varied hairstyles found in a single family.” FIC Khan, Hena. Under My Hijab. Lee & Low, 2019. “As a young girl observes the women in her life and how each covers her hair a different way, she dreams of the possibilities in her own future and how she might express her personality through her hijab.” FIC POETRY Latham, Irene and Charles Waters. Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendships. Carolrhoda, 2018. “When they can’t find partners quick enough, Charles and Irene get stuck working together on their poetry project. To Irene, Charles is too opinionated. To Charles, Irene is mousy and dull. They are too different, especially since Irene is white and Charles is black. In mirrored verses, the pair discover their similarities and respectfully examine their differences…” Miller, Sharee. Don’t Touch My Hair. Hachette, 2018. “It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, ...until, finally, Aria has had enough! A good exploration of personal boundaries and respect in general.” FIC Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia. Bippity Bop Barbershop. Little Brown, 2002. “Miles makes his first trip to the barbershop with his father. Like most little boys, he is afraid of the sharp scissors, the buzzing razor, and the prospect of picking a new hairstyle.“ FIC Thompkins-Bigelow, Jamilah. Mommy’s Khimar. Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster, 2018. “A khimar is a flowing scarf that my mommy wears,” explains a young African-American girl in the opening pages. The term “khimar” may be new to many who know the headscarf worn by Muslim women as a “hijab” based on public discourse about the garb, but for some, including many African-American Muslims, “khimar” has long been the preferred term for the head-covering.” FIC Yarbrough, Camille. Cornrows. Puffin, 1997. “Every design has a name and means something in the powerful past and present richness of the Black tradition. Mama's and Great-Grammaw's gentle fingers weave the design, and their lulling voices weave the tale, as they braid their children's hair into the striking cornrow patterns of Africa.” FIC INDIGENOUS
Bunting, Eve. Cheyenne Again. Clarion, 1995. “In the late 1880s, a Cheyenne boy named Young Bull is taken from his parents and sent to a boarding school to learn the white man's ways. ‘Young Bull's struggle to hold on to his heritage will touch children's sense of justice and lead to some interesting discussions and perhaps further research.’” FIC Dupuis, Dr. Jenny Kay and Kathy Kacer. Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii / I Am Not a Number (English and Ojibwa Edition). Second Story Press, 2019. “Dual-language edition in Nishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) Nbisiing dialect and English. When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school, she is confused, frightened and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns in charge at the school, who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her.” FIC Jordan-Fenton, Christy. When I was Eight. Annick, 2013. “Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not know how to read. Ignoring her father’s warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders’ school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she remains undaunted.” FIC Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. Lee & Low, 1993. “‘Shorty’ and his family, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, have been forced to relocate from their homes to a "camp" after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. …[T]hey build a playing field, and in this unlikely place, a baseball league is formed.” FIC Robertson, David A.. When We Were Alone. Highwater Press, 2017. “When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother's garden, she begins to notice things that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long braided hair and beautifully colored clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where all of these things were taken away.” FIC Sorrel, Traci. We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga. Charlesbridge, 2018. “The Cherokee community is grateful for blessings and challenges that each season brings. This is modern Native American life as told by an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation.” Sibert Honor. NONFIC Tudor, Asian and Kelly Tudor. Young Water Protectors: A Story About Standing Rock. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018. “At the not-so-tender age of 8, Aslan arrived in North Dakota to help stop a pipeline. A few months later he returned - and saw the whole world watching. Read about his inspiring experiences in the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock.” NONFIC IMMIGRANTS
Choi, Yangsook. The Name Jar. Paw Prints, 2008. “Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a glass jar with names for her to pick from.” FIC NOVEL IN VERSE Warga, Jasmine. Other Words for Home. HarperCollins, 2019. “[A] young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States. Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.” Newbery Honor. FIC Faruqui, Reem. Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story. Tilbury House, 2015. “Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.” FIC MEMOIR Guerrero, Diane and Erica Moros. My Family Divided: One Girl’s Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope. Holt, 2018. “Before landing a spot on the megahit Netflix show Orange is the New Black; before wow-ing audiences as Lina on Jane the Virgin; and before her incredible activism and work on immigration reform, Diane Guerrero was a young girl living in Boston. One day, while Guerrero was at school, her undocumented immigrant parents were taken from their home, detained, and deported. Guerrero's life, which had been full of the support of a loving family, was turned upside down.” Muhammad, Ibtahaj. The Proudest Blue: the Story of Hijab and Family. Little Brown, 2019. “With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It's the start of a brand new year and, best of all, it's her older sister Asiya's first day of hijab--a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong.” FIC Say, Allen. Tea with Milk. Houghton, 1999. “effectively captures the struggle between two cultures as May, the young girl in the story, strives to live her own destiny.” FIC Say, Allen. Grandfather’s Journey. Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Caldecott Medal. “The story is based on Say's grandfather's voyage from Japan to the United States and back again.” FIC BIOG Tonatiuh, Duncan. Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation. Abrams, 2014. “Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school.” BIOG Yoo, Paula. Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story. Lee & Low, 2009. “The true story of Chinese American film star Anna May Wong, whose trail-blazing career in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s broke new ground for future generations of Asian American actors.” |
BOOKLISTS
Some of these are updated occasionally. All were used for reference in this project.
“13 Children’s Books About Race and Diversity.” PBS “for Parents,” 4 June 2020. “Children's books are one of the most effective tools to engage with young children on important issues. To encourage conversations about race and diversity with your children, check out this list of books to read together as a family.”
Early elementary Chapter Books. Social Justice Books. Collected for Grades 1-2 and Grades 3-4 separately.
Oakland Public Library. Talking to Kids About Racism and Justice: A List for Parents, Caregivers & Educators.
Van Ness, Lorien. “60+ Resources for Talking to Kids About Racism.” Bounceback Parenting, 30 July ?year. “Books, Activities and Media to Help you Talk with Kids About Race and Racism” from birth through elementary school.
Wenjen, Mia with Bethany Edwards. “Children’s Books about White Privilege.” Pragmatic Mom blog, 13 May 2019.
Willoughby, Vanessa. “#BlackinSTEM: 17 Nonfiction Books That Spotlight Black Scientists, Thinkers, and Inventors.” SLJ, 14 July 2020.
Some of these are updated occasionally. All were used for reference in this project.
“13 Children’s Books About Race and Diversity.” PBS “for Parents,” 4 June 2020. “Children's books are one of the most effective tools to engage with young children on important issues. To encourage conversations about race and diversity with your children, check out this list of books to read together as a family.”
Early elementary Chapter Books. Social Justice Books. Collected for Grades 1-2 and Grades 3-4 separately.
Oakland Public Library. Talking to Kids About Racism and Justice: A List for Parents, Caregivers & Educators.
Van Ness, Lorien. “60+ Resources for Talking to Kids About Racism.” Bounceback Parenting, 30 July ?year. “Books, Activities and Media to Help you Talk with Kids About Race and Racism” from birth through elementary school.
Wenjen, Mia with Bethany Edwards. “Children’s Books about White Privilege.” Pragmatic Mom blog, 13 May 2019.
Willoughby, Vanessa. “#BlackinSTEM: 17 Nonfiction Books That Spotlight Black Scientists, Thinkers, and Inventors.” SLJ, 14 July 2020.