I’ve read a bit lately about raising empathetic children, and it seems that one key is to teach them to celebrate, from a young age, the beauty of diversity and difference.
I asked a couple of friends, Ashley and Amy, to help me compile a list of great children’s books that help do just that…
My friend Ashley is black and the mother of two multi-racial girls. My friend Amy has a daughter with limb differences (which you can read about in her post here). Ashley wrote a post recently that I really love after she spent some kind with a child psychologist. One thing I keep thinking about from the post is how important it is for children to have both windows and mirrors. “Windows to see through to worlds that are different than theirs and mirrors to see reflections of themselves.” Such a beautiful idea. I found a great article about the windows and mirrors concept right here.
The best place to start is their own childlike curiosity. Ashley said, “I worked with a child psychologist when Zoey was two. At this age children were telling her skin was different and began giving her negative feelings about brown skin. The child psychologist pointed out that color is the best place to start with all young children. The biggest change we made was starting to point out and celebrate differences everywhere we went. Making it not a taboo topic, but getting straight to the point in the way the children see the world.”
Together, we’ve put together a list of 12 books we love that celebrate diversity and differences. A list of books that can start great conversations about race, physical differences, learning and gender differences, family structure, etc. This is a great start to important conversations. Exposure and modeling are next, and I’m thinking a lot about that too!
Here are some books that help in that celebration of difference:
El Deafo. A graphic novel about a child with hearing loss and hearing aids.
Wonder. A chapter book recommended for ages 8-12. Henry’s fourth grade class just read this book. About a boy born with facial differences. The movie just came out too.
Dancing in the Wings. The lead character is a young black girl who struggles with being very tall.
Last Stop on Market Street. The main character is a child of color with his grandmother as they ride on a bus through San Francisco to the soup kitchen to feed their community. It’s a beautiful story about economic difference and compassion.
The Great Big Book of Families. A wonderful representation of all kinds of people, religions, social economic circumstances, parents and many more differences. A must read for all children!
The Colors of Us. This is Edie’s favorite, and Ashley loves it with her girls as well. It explores race from the perspective of children, through color. Pointing out the beautiful colors of all the people within this little girl’s community.
It’s OK to be Different. This is great place to start talking about difference for really young children.
We’re all Wonders. A great children’s book companion to the chapter book, Wonder (above).
Emmanuel’s Dream. A true story about a West African, one-legged cyclist.
Red. A book that explores identity and self love, through the lens of a crayon who often gets mislabeled as being red.
Amazing Grace. A black girl who is adventurous and creative wants to play Peter Pan in the school play. Her friends tell her she can’t because she is a girl and because she is black. She shows them that is far from the truth.
Sparkle Boy. A beautiful book that challenges gender norms, about a boy who loves loves sparkle and his sister who stands up for him.
Thanks so much to Ashley and Amy for helping me put together this list. Any other books you’d add?